BIBLE DICTIONARY + WORD STUDY

Chamberlain

Original Hebrew / Aramaic / Greek connected to this term

How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.

GREEK · G2135

εὐνοῦχος

eunouchos — eunuch

εὐνοῦχος, -ου, ὁ (i.e. ὁ τὴν εὐνὴν(bed) ἔχων), [in LXX for סָרִיס (perhaps not of necessity an actual eunuch; DB, see word), Gen.39:1, al., Wis.3:14, Sir.20:4 30:20 ;] an emasculated man, a eunuch: Mat.19:12; one such holding, as was common, high office, as of chamberlain, at court, Act.8:27, 34-39; metaphorically, of one naturally incapacitated for or voluntarily abstaining from wedlock, Mat.19:12.† (AS)

6 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →

HEBREW / ARAMAIC · H2726

חַרְבוֹנָא

char.vo.na — Harbona

A man living at the time of Exile and Return, only mentioned at Est.1.10 § Harbona or Harbonah = "ass-driver" the 3rd of the seven chamberlains or eunuchs who served Ahasuerus

2 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →

GREEK · G2846

κοιτών

koitōn — bedroom/chamberlain

κοιτών, -ῶνος, ὁ (κοίτη = Att.., δωμότιον, see Kennedy, Sources, 40), [in LXX chiefly for חֶדֶר, 2Ki.4:7, Jol.2:16; I Est.3:3, al. ;] a bed-chamber; ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ κ., a chamberlain: Act.12:20.† (AS)

1 tagged verse occurrence · see every occurrence →

GREEK · G986

Βλάστος

Blastos — Blastus

Βλάστος, -ου, ὁ, Blastus, chamberlain of Agrippa: Act.12:20.† (AS)

1 tagged verse occurrence · see every occurrence →

Historical dictionary entry

A confidential servant of the king (Gen. 37:36; 39:1). In Rom. 16:23 mention is made of “Erastus the chamberlain.” Here the word denotes the treasurer of the city, or the quaestor, as the Romans styled him. He is almost the only convert from the higher ranks of whom mention is made (comp. Acts 17:34). Blastus, Herod’s “chamberlain” (Acts 12:20), was his personal attendant or valet-de-chambre. The Hebrew word saris, thus translated in Esther 1:10, 15; 2:3, 14, 21, etc., properly means an eunuch (as in the marg.), as it is rendered in Isa. 39:7; 56:3.

Scripture references

Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.

Compare other reference traditions

Look up Chamberlain in Smith’s Bible Dictionary and ISBE →