a proselyte, Philip would not have baptized him, since the good news had not yet begun to be extended to the uncircumcised Gentiles.

Ethiopia (Cush) is one of the lands among which the Jewish exiles were scattered after the Babylonian conquest of Judah. (Isa. 11:11) Hence, this Ethiopian official may have had association with Jewish persons in his area or perhaps in Egypt, where many Jews resided. His copy of the scroll of Isaiah was likely a copy of the Greek Septuagint translation, originally made in Alexandria, Egypt. Since the Ethiopian kingdom had become partly Hellenized from the time of Ptolemy II (309-246 B.C.E.), this official’s being able to read the Greek language would not be unusual. His becoming a Jewish proselyte and his subsequent conversion to Christianity were in fulfillment of Psalm 68:31.

ETHIOPIAN LANGUAGE

The original language of Ethiopia is undetermined; by the close of the eighth century B.C.E. Egyptian hieroglyphic writing was being used for official Ethiopian inscriptions. A native language and script called Meroitic is known from the century prior to the start of the Common Era and for some centuries thereafter. The language called Ethiopic was the vernacular language during the Common Era up until the fourteenth century. It is of Semitic origin as is the present-day language of modern Ethiopia called Amharic. The Encyclopedia Americana (1956 ed., Vol. 10, p. 547) states that during the time of Roman control there was a great influx of Arabian peoples into this region and that the population continued to be mainly Arabian from the fourth century C.E. on.

ETH-KAZIN

(Eth-kaʹzin).

A site marking the boundary of Zebulun. (Josh. 19:10, 13) Though its exact location is today unknown, some tentatively identify it with modern Kefr Kenna about thirteen and a half miles (21.7 kilometers) W of the Sea of Galilee.

ETHNAN

(Ethʹnan) [gift, hire].

A son of Ashhur by his wife Helah. Ethnan was of the tribe of Judah and of the family of Hezron.—1 Chron. 2:3-5, 9, 24; 4:5, 7.

ETHNI

(Ethʹni) [gift, hire].

A descendant of Levi through his son Gershom; the son of Zerah and the forefather of the musician Asaph.—1 Chron. 6:39-43.

EUBULUS

(Eu·buʹlus) [well-advised, prudent].

One of the Christian brothers in Rome at the time of the apostle Paul’s last imprisonment and who is mentioned as sending greetings to Timothy.—2 Tim. 4:21.

EUNICE

(Euʹnice) [blessed with victory; good victory].

A believing Jewess, the daughter of Lois. She was the wife of an unbelieving Greek and the mother of Timothy. (Acts 16:1) Very likely the apostle Paul met Eunice at Lystra in Asia Minor on his first missionary tour, and it was then, as a result of his preaching, that she and her mother Lois became Christians. (Acts 14:4-18) The faith of Eunice was “without any hypocrisy.” (2 Tim. 1:5) Although married to a pagan husband, she was exemplary in teaching her son Timothy the “holy writings” from his “infancy” and, upon becoming a Christian, she doubtless instructed him accordingly. (2 Tim. 3:15) Since Eunice’s husband was a Greek, Timothy’s parents had not had him circumcised.—Acts 16:3.

EUNUCH

The Hebrew word sa·risʹ and the Greek word eu·nouʹkhos apply, when used in a literal sense, to a human male who has been castrated. Such were appointed in royal courts as attendants or caretakers of the queen, the harem and the women. (Esther 2:3, 12-15; 4:4-6, 9) Due to their closeness to the king’s household, eunuchs of ability often rose to high rank. In a broad sense the term also denoted any official assigned to duties in the court of the king, not indicating that these men were literal eunuchs.

Under the Law covenant, a eunuch was not allowed to become part of the congregation of God’s people. (Deut. 23:1) There is, accordingly, no indication that any of the Israelites or alien residents among them were made into eunuchs for service in the palace of Israelite kings. Under the Law, slaves were to be circumcised, not castrated. However, it was the custom of Eastern pagan nations to make eunuchs out of some of the children taken captive in war.

The court official in charge of the treasury of the queen of Ethiopia and to whom Philip preached is called a eunuch. He was a proselyte to the Jewish religion who had come to Jerusalem to worship God. But since a castrated person was not accepted into the congregation of Israel under the Law, the term eu·nouʹkhos would apply here not literally, but in its sense of “court official.” (Acts 8:26-39; Deut. 23:1) Ebed-melech, the Ethiopian who rescued the prophet Jeremiah from imprisonment in a cistern, was a eunuch in the court of King Zedekiah. It would appear that the term here applies in the frequent sense of officer also. Ebed-melech seems to have been a man of authority. He appealed directly to King Zedekiah in Jeremiah’s behalf and was given command over thirty men for the rescue operation.—Jer. 38:7-13.

Jehovah comfortingly foretold the time when eunuchs would be accepted by him as his servants and, if obedient, would have a name better than sons and daughters. With the abolition of the Law by Jesus Christ, all persons exercising faith, regardless of their former status or condition, could become spiritual sons of God. Fleshly distinctions were removed.—Isa. 56:4, 5; John 1:12; 1 Cor. 7:24; 2 Cor. 5:16.

Jesus Christ spoke of three classes of eunuchs at Matthew 19:12, saying: “For there are eunuchs that were born such from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs that were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs that have made themselves eunuchs on account of the kingdom of the heavens. Let him that can make room for it make room for it.” Those who are said to have “made themselves eunuchs” because of the kingdom are those who exercise self-control so as to apply themselves to the service of God. The apostle Paul recommends this as the “better” course for Christians who do not become “inflamed with passion.” These, he said, could serve the Lord more constantly “without distraction.” (1 Cor. 7:9, 29-38) Such “eunuchs” are not persons who have physically castrated themselves or have been emasculated; instead, these persons voluntarily remain in a state of singleness. No vow of celibacy is recommended by the Bible, and “forbidding to marry” is condemned as one of the marks of the apostasy. In fact, some of the apostles were married men.—1 Tim. 4:1-3; 1 Cor. 9:5; Matt. 8:14; Mark 1:30; Luke 4:38; see COURT OFFICIAL.

EUODIA

(Eu·oʹdi·a) [good journey, success].

A woman in the Christian congregation at Philippi who had fought side by side with the apostle Paul and others “in the good news.” Euodia was apparently having some difficulty in resolving a problem that had arisen between her and Syntyche, and Paul admonished these two Christian women “to be of the same mind in the Lord.”—Phil. 4:2, 3.

EUPHRATES

(Eu·phraʹtes) [Heb., P^erathʹ, from root meaning “to break forth”; Assyro-Babylonian, Purattu; Old Persian, Ufratu].

The longest and most important river of SW Asia, called the Firat in Arabic, a name closely resembling the Hebrew P^erath’. It is first mentioned at Genesis 2:14 as one of the four rivers once having had their source in Eden.

BOUNDARY OF ISRAEL’S ASSIGNED TERRITORY

In God’s statement to Abraham he covenanted to give Abraham’s seed the land “from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.” (Gen.