Eunuch he is a castrated man who has had his testicles and/or penis removed. In the figurative sense the term is used to mean “sterile”, “powerless”, “weak” or “useless”.
In the Middle East and China, the eunuch was the guard in charge of looking after the harems, a place in the house reserved for wives and odalisques. To become a eunuch, the guardian male was chosen because of his sexual incapacity, which could be caused by a congenital problem or by having been subjected to castration.
There was a period in history when boys between 8 and 10 years of age were castrated to prevent the change of voice and for them to become singers with a female voice. “Castrato” was how this type of singer was called (“castrati”, in the plural). It was only in 1902 that Pope Leo XIII banned this practice.
In the following passage from the Bible, Jesus makes reference to three types of eunuchs:
“Because there are eunuchs who were born that way; and there are eunuchs made such by men; and there are others who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Who can accept it, accept it.” (Matthew 19:12)
In addition to eunuchs who were born with this type of problem and those who were castrated by other men, Jesus talks about another type of eunuch: one who practiced celibacy to dedicate himself exclusively to religious life, to the kingdom of heavens.
