the way we are known
You are not the thing that happened to you. You are more than that.
Esther 1:10-12
…the king … commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who attended him...
Eunuch is a job, but in some ways it’s also a third gender. Not a man in most ways that count for ancient cultures, but not thereby suddenly female. Curiously, the eunuchs in the Esther story have names. In fact, apart from the one baptized by Philip, every eunuch in the Bible is named. An odd contrast to how often a passage starves us with a “the woman” or “his wife”. I wonder whether the names are a concession to their being manhood adjacent? an indication of their rarity? or a sign that they were famous curiosities?
Whatever the reason, I am glad that the names are recorded. It tells me that the title “eunuch” - which describes a bodily state that was imposed on someone - is not the only way they are known. They are not the thing that happened to them. They are more than that.
You are not the thing that happened to you. You are more than that. Ask a friend today to call you by your name ten times in a row, and believe it.
Love this ✨ I’m also grateful they are named. I am now remembering my early days as “Avery” — how connected I’d feel to someone after they started calling me by the name I chose. Names have power; every name deserves to be remembered.
FYI, Catholic Church bases gender on the science of DNA chromosomes, either XX or XY, not by body parts or sterility (natural…born/young/old, forced…eunuch/chemo, or chosen…vasectomy/gender surgery).