[Avodah] What is a saris?

[Michael Kopinsky]

On Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 9:45 AM, Zev Sero <zev at sero.name> wrote:

> Saris definitely means eunuch; when Yeshaya says "ve'al yomar hasaris
> hen ani etz yavesh", he doesn't mean "royal servant".  The question is
> whether, by the time of the Megillah, the term had shifted in meaning;
> since traditionally royal servants were eunuchs, perhaps the term had
> come to be applied to all royal servants, regardless of their anatomical
> status.


Do we see that the term eunuch or saris was extended to refer to a fertile,
procreative royal servant?  According to Wikipedia[1], "by Late Antiquity
the term "eunuch" had come to be applied not only to castrated men, but also
to a wide range of men with comparable behavior, who had "chosen to withdraw
from worldly activities and thus refused to procreate."  However, I see no
indication that men who did procreate were still called eunuchs.

Does "saris" have a broader implication than "eunuch"?

As for Haman, if saris is meant literally, perhaps he was castrated for
> the sake of his career after he had his children.
>

Assuming that Haman was a saris, which I see no indication of.  AFAIK, Haman
!= Mehuman.

This problem and suggestion are also explored at ohr.edu: [2] (from a
fantastical tale of a guy that meets Mordechai in person)

> There is a problem with Haman being Mehuman. The Megillah states that
> Mehuman was one of the "Surisei" of the King. Actually, the commentaries say
> that Memuchan also was a Suris. Its kmown that Surisim cant have children.
> Throughout medieval history, monarchs have often demanded their attendants
> not to marry nor have children in order to devote their whole lives to the
> king. How is it that Haman had ten sons if he was a Suris of the king?"
>
> I chuckled. "Perhaps he had his children before he served the king."
>
> "That may be true, but Megilla states that Haman boasted he had great
> wealth, many sons and then the king promoted him. Haman wouldnt mention
> children as a sign of wealth or power if the king didnt want it. Also he
> attained wealth by stealing the treasures of the Beit Hamikdash. He only was
> able to do that if he was already working for the king. So the great wealth
> had to have come after the many sons."
>
KT,
Michael


[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunuch#Non-castrated_.22eunuchs.22
[2] http://ohr.edu/yhiy/article.php/1569
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