Thinking with Eunuchs

As far back as the end of the second century, some early Christians began to read the eunuchs of Matthew 19:12 as a simple cipher for celibacy. Many contemporary readings have challenged this view by noting that eunuchs would have been a problematic exemplar for celibacy, considering that the eunuch trope current at the time of Matthew's gospel was that of a hyper-sexualized character, frequently used as a rhetorical foil for celibacy, not a model. Yet modern biblical exegesis of this passage depends on one obvious but oddly unquestioned presumption: that the eunuchs in question still should be seen as a model for discipleship. On this presumption, the exegetical task concerning the passage is to discern the otherwise enigmatic aspect of discipleship that the eunuchs model. Ian Kinman argues that such a reading is anachronistic and misguided: eunuchs were not seen by the author of Matthew's gospel as a model, but an anti-type. Drawing on numerous examples of first- and second-century literature from the ancient Mediterranean world, and a detailed comparative exegesis of the gospel of Matthew, the author demonstrates how Matthew 19:12 presents eunuchs as an example of those who are not fruitful of the word of the kingdom, specifically in the context of Jesus's challenging teachings on divorce and marriage. They are instead, to use the language of Isaiah 56:3, "withered." As such, eunuchs represent not an illustration of how one is to live in Matthew's community, but a warning against the incomplete acceptance of the challenging word of the kingdom of heaven