In the three classes mentioned in Matt, xix, 12, the first is to be ranked with otlier examples of defective organization ; the last, if taken literal!}', as it is said to have been personally exemplified in Origen (Euseb. EccL Hist, vi, 8 ; see Zorn, De ennuchismo Origenis, Giess. 1708), is an instance of liuman ways and means of ascetic devotion being valued by the Jews above re- vealed precept (see Schottgen, Ilor. Ihb. i, 159). Our Saviour in that passage doubtless refers to the volun- tary and ascetic celibacj' of the Essenes (q. v.). But a figurative sense of ivvovxoQ (comp. 1 Cor. vii, 32, 34) is also possible. See Celibacy.
In the A. V. of Esther the word "chamberlain" (marg. "eunuch") is tlie constant rendering of D"'"iO, saris, and as the word also occurs in Acts xii, 20, and Eom. xvi, 23, where the original expressions are verj' different, some caution is required. In Acts xii, 20, Tov iiri Tov KoiTwvoQ Tov fictrTiXUog may mean a "chamberlain" merely. Such were persons of public influence, as we learn from a Greelv inscription pre- served in Walpole's Tur/:e;/ (ii, 559), in honor of P. Aelius Alcibiades, "chamberlain of the emperor" (ivrt Kotrwvot,' 2f/3.), the epithets in which exactly suggest the kind of patronage expressed. In Rom. xvi, 23, the word tTrirnoTroQ is the one commonly rendered " steward" (e. g. IMatt. xx, 8 ; Luke viii, 8), and means the one to whom tlie care of the city was committed. See generally Salden, Ofia Thcol. de Eunuchis, p. 494 sq. — Smith, s. v. See Chambeklaix.
In Deut. xxiii, 1 (n3'l-^"!i:ss, one mutilated by crush- ing, i. e. the testicles, Sept. technically SXatuVr;), and also probably in Lev. xxi, 20 ("dX nil"?, one crush- ed as to his testicles, Sept. partiallv(i(o)'<)()\(t'), the allu- sion is to a pecviliar kind of emasculation still practised in the East, according to the Greek physicians (Paulus ^gineta, bk. vi), which consists in softening the testi- cles of ver}' young boys in warm water, and then rub- bing and pressing them till they disappear. As the heathen priests were often thus qualified for office, persons so mutilated were excluded from the Jewish Church. See Asiitoretii.
Eunuchs, a sect of heretics in the third century, who were said to be mad enough to emasculate them- selves under the assumption that they should thus eradicate their evil propensities, and qualify them- selves for performing, in a more hol_v and acceptable manner, the duties of religion. Origen was the sub- ject of this miserable delusion. The practice is prev-
alent at this day in Russia, among the sect of the Skoptzi (q. v.). In tlie Council of Niccea persons of this class were condemned, and excluded from holy orders (Farrar, £cdes. Diet. s. v.). See Celibacy and Valesians.
Euo'dias, or, rather, Euodia (EvoSia, a good journey ; for, as found in Phil, ix, 2, EvoSicn' is fern., since tlie following verse refers to that and the asso- ciated name bj' aiiTcdg and ctiriveg), a female member of the Church at Philippi, who seems to have been at variance with another female member named Sjnitv- che. A.D. 57. Paul describes them as women who had "labored much with him in the Gospel," and ira* plores them to be of one mind (Philip, iv, 2, 3).
Euodius. Sec Evodius.
Euphemites. See Messalians.
Euphra'tes is the Greek form (Eii^parjjc) of the river designated in Heb. by the name Phrath or Pe- rath' (n"iQ, which Gesenius regards as i. q. '■'■ swtet wa- ter," referring to the present Arabic name Frah as having that signif. ; but Fiirst refers to an obsolete root indicating the impetuous character of the stream), and is probaljly a word of Arian origin, the initial elc ment being 'm, which is in Sanscrit sii, in Zend hu, and in Greek tv ; and the second element beingyVa, the particle of abundance. The Euphrates is thus " the good and abounding river." It is not improba- ble that in common jiarlance the name was soon short- ened to its modern form of Frat, which is almost ex- actly what the Hebrew literation expresses. But it is most frequently denoted in the Bible by the term "illSrt, han-nahar\ i. e. "the river," the river of Asia, in grand contrast with the shortlived torrents of Pal- estine, being by far the most considerable stream in that part of the continent. Thus, in Exod. xxiii, 31, we read, "from the desert unto the river" (comp. Isa. viii, 7). In like manner, it is termed in Deut. i, 7 "the great river." The Euphrates is named in the cuneiform inscriptions (q. v.).
1. It is first mentioned in Gen. ii, 14, where the Eu- phrates is stated to be the fourth of the rivers which flowed from a common stream in the garden of Eden. Its celebritv is there sufficiently indicated by the ab- sence of any explanatory phrase, such as accompanies the names of the other streams. See Edex. We next hear of it in the covenant made with Abraham (Gen. XV, 18), where the whole countrj' from "the great river, the river Euphrates," to the river of Egypt is promised to the chosen race. In Deuteronomy and Joshua we find that this promise was borne in mind at the time of the settlement in Canaan (Deut. i, 7 ; xi, 24 ; Josh, i, 4) ; and from an important passage in the first book of Chronicles it appears that the tribe of Reuben did actually extend itself to the Euphrates in the times anterior to Saul (1 Chron. v, 9). Here they came in contact with the Ilagarites, who appear upon the ^Middle Euphrates in the Assyrian inscriptions of the later empire. It is David, however, who seems for the first time to have entered on the full enjoyment of the promise by the victories which he gained over Hadadezer, king of Zobah, and his allies, the Syrians of Damascus (2 Sam. viii, 3-8 ; 1 Chron. xviii, 3). The object of his expedition was " to recover his l)order," and "to stablish his dominion hy the river Euphra- tes ;" and in this object he appears to have been alto- gether successful, in so much that Solomon, his son, who was not a man of war, but only inherited his fa- ther's dominions, is said to have "reigned over all kingdoms from the river (i. e. the Euphrates) unto the land of the Philistines and unto the border of Egypt" (1 Kings iv, 21 ; comp. 2 Chron. ix, 2G). Thus, during the reigns of David and Solomon, the dominion of Is>- rael actuallj' attained to the full extent both ways of the original promise, the Euphrates forming the bound- ary of their empire to the north-east, and the river of