MERISMS, EUNUCHS, AND THE 8 GENDERS: A CHRISTIAN REFLECTION ON GENDER AND IDENTITY - PART 2
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In scripture, is God male? Female? Non-binary? The short answer is, “yes.” While God is primarily represented as male in the Old Testament, God is not solely referred to as masculine. Deuteronomy 32:18, Isaiah 43:14, and Hosea 11:3-4 all represent God as feminine. “The Rock your bearer you neglected, you forgot the God who gave you birth” (1) is in direct reference to the masculine Adonai of Judaism. Similarly, the Old Testament is conflicted on its social construct of gender identity. “And the lads grew up, and Esau was a man skilled in hunting, a man of the field, and Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents. And Isaac loved Esau for the game in his mouth, but Rebekah loved Jacob.” (2) Jacob stayed home in the tents with the women and helped cook and tend the flock, all of which were gender-specific roles assigned to women. Similarly, Judges 4-5 tells the story of Deborah, who leads the Israelites to battle against the Canaanites, a gender role which was reserved for men at the time. The list goes on, but we can see that the Old Testament makes space for a wide spectrum of gender roles for both God and humanity. Why then do we think of gender in binary terms?
The Jewish legal tradition used by teachers during the era of Second Temple Judaism identify up to eight genders, according to the work of Professor Sarra Lev of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia, PA. According to her work, the genders in question are:
zakhar - Male - “The one with phallus”
aylonit hamah - assigned female at birth, naturally develops male characteristics
aylonit adam - assigned female at birth, develops male characteristics through human intervention
saris hamah - assigned male at birth, naturally develops female characteristics
saris adam - assigned male at birth, develops female characteristics through human intervention
androgynos - both male and female
tumtum - one whose biology is unclear
nekevah - Female - “The one with the hole”
Jewish culture wrestled with and in some ways addressed the tension caused by TGNC individuals. In Bikkurim 4:1 of the Talmud, we find: “An androgynos, who present both male and female physical traits, is in some ways like men and in some ways like women. In some ways, they are like both men and women and in other ways, like neither men nor women.” (3) Rabbi David Meyer writes about Jewish Kabbalah (an esoteric form of Jewish mysticism), and contends that it can be said that Dinah, the only daughter of Jacob, was conceived with the soul of a man. Isaac was ensouled as a woman, but born a man so he could carry forward the family covenant with God. (4) How? Through Gilgul ha-neshamot, or the “cycling of souls,” a form of reincarnation through which the soul of a male will take a female body and vice-versa. (5) These examples describe all describe the Jewish relationship with gender fluidity through the mechanisms of scripture and tradition. While we cannot say with certainty that TGNC people were common, there was enough presence to be recognized in the writings. Clues in scripture and commentary help us understand that even the exemplary patriarchs like Isaac and Jacob were not exclusively stereotypical “man’s men.”
What is a Christian response to TGNC people? God created maleness and femaleness with equal importance on a spectrum, not as a hierarchical binary. Gender identity is a social construct that does not exist until we say it does. Jewish culture has responded to moments of gender fluidity in their legal and biblical understanding. These considerations were in play during Jesus’ lifetime. His words in Matthew 19, “For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake” are cultural signposts within a larger conversation about marriage. The eunuch “born thus from their mother’s womb” could be one who was unable to produce children because of transexual status or a birth defect. The eunuch “made eunuch by men” could be one who was castrated or assigned to an office which demanded the man not produce offspring. (6) Those who “have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake” implied a sexual orientation, gender role, or some other reason for a person not to reproduce. The word we know as eunuch refers mostly to the lack of capacity for reproduction rather than the absence of reproductive organs. What is Jesus’ directive to his disciples regarding the various “born, made, or chosen” eunuchs? I believe it is the same appropriate response to those who wrestle with gender identity in the 21st century: “Let anyone accept this who can.” That is a far cry from other teachings of Jesus. This is not a line in the sand, not a directive. This is admitting that the conversation is tough, and we should be striving for acceptance rather than judgment. Can you accept your transgendered role – or another’s? Can you accept the one who struggles with their transgendered role – or your own struggles? I think this verse clearly tells us that Jesus knew some could accept while others would not.
Scripture, tradition, and reason have not given us an answer. In fact, scripture, tradition, and reason imply that there is no answer. Which raises the question: why have we allowed our social construct to form an answer? Scripture contradicts itself and lends itself to arguments negotiated from its various stories, law, and poetry. Tradition shows us a variety of Jewish responses through midrash, esotericism, and practice. Jesus reasons a middle way with the final word of accepting people as they are. Yet in today’s popular and church culture, do we fully accept people as they are? God created maleness and femaleness as part of a vast tapestry of genders. The Jews of Jesus’ era identified 8 genders. Would not the truly conservative, orthodox, and Christian response to TGNC humans be to proclaim a message of radical inclusion, to remove all the labels and judgment, and adopt an old social construct where humanity can be seen as God sees us: good?
Alter, Volume 1, Deuteronomy 32:18, 731
Alter, Volume 1, Genesis 25:27, 87
Rabbi David Meyer, What the Torah Teaches us About Gender Fluidity and Transgender Justice, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, 2018.
Ibid
Ibid
EUNUCH. (n.d.). JewishEncyclopedia.Com. Retrieved July 2, 2023, from https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5904-eunuch
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Guidelines for Psychological Practice With Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People, The American Psycological Assocoiation, December 2015, Vol. 70, No. 9, 832– 864
Meyer, Rabbi David , What the Torah Teaches us About Gender Fluidity and Transgender Justice, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, 2018.
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Zaborskis, Mary, Gender Studies: Foundations and Key Concepts, Jstor Daily, November 29, 2018
