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# סָרִיס

Biblical Hebrew · Strong's H7249

**eunuch** — used 6 times in the Hebrew Bible. Below: its meanings with their sources, MACULA's glosses, and 2 verses word for word and in JPS 1917.

## Meaning

### OpenScriptures lexical index

eunuch [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1505/7249/#m1)

### Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906

סָרִיס: n.m. eunuch [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1505/7249/#m2)

**The whole BDB entry:** n.m. eunuch (NH id., 𝔗 סָרִיסָא, Syriac ܣܳܪܝܣܳܐ (all c. vb. denom. = emasculate), Old Aramaic סרסא Lzb331 Cook86; Arabic سَرِسٌ, سَرِيسٌ (vb. سَرِسَ be impotent), Kam Frey (not Lane); prob. foreign word; according to JenZA vii. 174 = Assyrian ša rêši, he who is the head, chief, cf. BrockLex 239 b DlHWB 694 (ša-riš?), ZimZMG liii. 1899, 116; eunuch being specialized meaning; in any case Arabic is Aramaic loan-word);—abs. ס׳ 1 K 22:9 + 7 times; cstr. סְרִיס Gn 37:36 + 3 times; pl. סָרִיסִים 2 K 9:32 + 17 times; cstr. סְרִיסֵי Gn 40:7 סָֽרִיסֵי Est 2:21 +; sf. סָרִיסָיו Gn 40:2 + 4 times, סָרִיסֶ֫יהָ Est 4:4; eunuch, of Pharaoh Gn 37:36; 40:2, 7 (all E), married 39:1 (RJE); of Isr. kings 1 S 8:15 (predict.), 1 K 22:9 = 2 Ch 18:8; 2 K 8:6; 9:32 (all of N. Isr.); 1 Ch 28:1 (in David’s time), 2 K 23:11; 24:12, 15 cf. Je 29:2, also 34:19; 38:7; 41:16 (all in Judah; so likewise) 2 K 25:19 (military officer) = Je 52:25; of Bab. kings 2 K 20:18 = Is 39:7 (predict.); ascribed to Nebuch. in Dn, רַב סָרִיסָיו Dn 1:3, שַׂר הַסָּרִיסִים v 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 18; to king of Persia in Est, 1:10, 12, 15 + 9 times Est; promises made to eunuchs Is 56:3, 4. (Term never used in law codes; on contrary cf. exclusion of פְּצוּעַ דַּכָּא, and כְּרוּת שָׁפְכָה Dt 23:2 \[v. Drad loc.\], also מְרוֹחַ אָ֑שֶׁךְ Lv 21:20.)—רַב־סָרִיס is title of high military officer 2 K 18:17 (Assyrian), Je 39:3, 13 (Bab.).—Vid. further, Thes SmithDB Art. ‘Eunuch,’ Di Gn 39:1 Dr Dt 23:1.

Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 3 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (7 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (2 candidates)

## Glosses

MACULA's English glosses of the word in the text, with how often each is used: \[the\] Rab- (3); saris (3).

## In the verses

[Jeremiah 39:13](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/JER.39.13/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/JER.39.13/#tree)

וַיִּשְׁלַ֞ח נְבֽוּזַרְאֲדָ֣ן רַב־טַבָּחִ֗ים וּנְבֽוּשַׁזְבָּן֙רַב־סָרִ֔יס וְנֵרְגַ֥ל שַׂר־אֶ֖צֶר נֵרְגַ֥ל שַׂר־אֶ֖צֶרנֵרְגַ֥ל שַׂר־אֶ֖צֶר רַב־מָ֑ג וְכֹ֖ל רַבֵּ֥י מֶֽלֶךְ־בָּבֶֽל׃

*Word for word:* and he.sent Nebuzaradan \[the\].chief of.\[the\].bodyguards and Nebushazban \[the\].Rab- saris and Nergal-Sharezer Nergal-Sharezer Nergal-Sharezer \[the\].Rab- mag and all the.chiefs of.the.king of.Babylon

*JPS 1917:* So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushazban Rab-saris, and Nergal-sarezer Rab-mag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon;

[Jeremiah 39:3](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/JER.39.3/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/JER.39.3/#tree)

וַיָּבֹ֗אוּ כֹּ֚ל שָׂרֵ֣י מֶֽלֶךְ־בָּבֶ֔ל וַיֵּשְׁב֖וּ בְּשַׁ֣עַר הַתָּ֑וֶךְ נֵרְגַ֣ל שַׂר־֠אֶצֶר נֵרְגַ֣ל שַׂר־֠אֶצֶרנֵרְגַ֣ל שַׂר־֠אֶצֶר סַֽמְגַּר־נְב֞וּסַֽמְגַּר־נְב֞וּ שַׂר־סְכִ֣יםשַׂר־סְכִ֣ים רַב־סָרִ֗יס נֵרְגַ֤ל שַׂר־אֶ֙צֶר֙ נֵרְגַ֤ל שַׂר־אֶ֙צֶר֙נֵרְגַ֤ל שַׂר־אֶ֙צֶר֙ רַב־מָ֔ג וְכָל־שְׁאֵרִ֔ית שָׂרֵ֖י מֶ֥לֶךְ בָּבֶֽל׃

*Word for word:* and they.came all the.officials of.the.king of.Babylon and they.sat in the.gate of the.middle Nergal-Sharezer Nergal-Sharezer Nergal-Sharezer Samgar Nebu Sarsekim Sarsekim \[the\].Rab- saris Nergal-Sharezer Nergal-Sharezer Nergal-Sharezer \[the\].Rab- mag and all the.rest of.the.officials of.the.king of.Babylon

*JPS 1917:* that all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, even Nergal-sarezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim Rab-saris, Nergal-sarezer Rab-mag, with all the residue of the princes of the king of Babylon.

## On Mova

- [This word in the Tanakh dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/7249.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of its meanings](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1505/7249/): every English meaning parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.

Sources. The words, their counts, glosses and the word-for-word renderings: MACULA Hebrew (the Westminster Leningrad Codex; Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0). Meanings: the OpenScriptures lexical index (CC BY 4.0), Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906 and Jastrow 1903 (public domain, via Sefaria); Targum Onkelos from Sefaria (public domain). Translation: JPS 1917 (public domain, from eBible.org).