Who are the change makers in the hallways of power and how do critical changes occur behind closed doors? It’s all about the messengers. Sometimes it is the court jester or the fool that can speak truth to power (April fools day!) and often it’s the ones who blur boundaries.
In the scroll of Esther there are twelve such messengers with minor but important roles - and they are all eunuchs.
Their names and roles were important enough for the authors to include:
Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, CarcasHegai, Shassshagaz, Teresh, Bigthana - and today’s hero - Hathach.
What is the purpose and significance of these often overlooked heroes of the story? What is the untold story of the eunuchs in the rigid world of rules - then, and today?
The word eunuch comes from the Greek εῐνοῦχος (eunoukhos)—literally, “guardian of the bed.” The Biblical Hebrew is more specific ‘“Saris” means castrated men.
Across ancient empires, eunuchs, most often slaves who had little choice about their fate, were trusted to serve in the most intimate spaces of power: the royal court, the king’s harem, the inner chambers of palace intrigue.
Peterson Toscano emphasizes the multifaceted roles of eunuchs in the narrative:
“Eunuchs serve as messengers, advisors, guards, assassins, and soldiers. In fact, on the chess board of the Persian court, all non-eunuchs are mostly stuck in place. The king stays in his section of the palace, Esther in hers, and her kinsman, Mordechai, has to sit outside until escorted in. The only people who get to move freely from place to place, in and out of the palace and into every palatial space are the eunuchs.”
In the ancient world, a eunuch was a non-procreative male, usually castrated before puberty. This means they typically did not experience the rush of testosterone that brings about a lowered voice, body and facial hair, and muscle development. In some places in the ancient world, others considered them, and perhaps they considered themselves, another sex or a third gender, defying clear binaries and boundaries. By doing so they were the ones to bridge divides and help communicate and connect.
This chapter unfolds as the horrific news of the royal edits to execute the empire’s Jews spreads with terror and wrath. Mordechai protests publicly, replacing his royal courtier uniform with sackcloth and ashes. He urges Esther to risk her life, enter the king's chamber, even if uninvited and in defiance of the law, and plead for her people. She’s her people’s only chance - he delivers the famous activation guilt trip -- “who knows if for this moment you were chosen to be queen?”
The news makes its way into the palace - Esther is horrified, but at first, refuses. Coming out as Jewish is a huge risk and breaking the king’s law may be punishable by death.
But instead of confronting Mordechai directly, she relies on Hatach, one of the king’s eunuchs, as her trusted go-between. He goes back and forth between the two, delivering their discreet and urgent messages:
וַתִּקְרָא אֶסְתֵּר לַהֲתָךְ מִסָּרִיסֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱמִיד לְפָנֶיהָ וַתְּצַוֵּהוּ עַל־מׇרְדֳּכָי לָדַעַת מַה־זֶּה וְעַל־מַה־זֶּה׃ וַיֵּצֵא הֲתָךְ אֶל־מׇרְדֳּכָי אֶל־רְחוֹב הָעִיר אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵי שַׁעַר־הַמֶּלֶךְ׃
Thereupon Esther summoned Hathach, one of the eunuchs whom the king had appointed to serve her, and sent him to Mordecai to learn the why and wherefore of it all.
Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square in front of the palace gate;
Esther 4:5-6
It is Hatach’s diplomatic wisdom, discretion, and loyalty that help Esther move from hesitation to courage. His presence is subtle, his power unseen, but without him, the story would not unfold as it does.
Like Hegai before him, the one one to first notice young Hadassah-Esther and help her attain her position, Hatach became a critical go-between whose very existence symbolized the difficulty of straddling two worlds.
What does this tell us about Esther? About Hatach? And about the unseen intermediaries in our own lives—those who dwell in the liminal spaces of gender, power, and influence?
The Book of Esther is obsessed with hidden identities and the power of those who operate in-between. Hatach and the other messengers are the unsung heroes, the silent architects of the story who make everything possible—but never get to write their own ending. And that is what makes them so vital, then and now.
Today, non-binary, trans, and gender-nonconforming individuals continue to face cruel erasure and violence, yet they are precious members of our community and often hold profound wisdom about moving through the world in defiance of rigid binaries and either/or realities that do not serve our personal and collective safety and wellbeing.
As we reread Esther in our own time, in an era when human rights, women’s choices, and non-binary identities are under attack, we must not overlook Hatach and his fellow eunuchs. Their presence in this story is a reminder that the ones society seeks to erase are often the very ones who hold it together.
So what happened to Hatach? The scroll doesn’t tell us, but in some Jewish imagined writings he will pay a price for his role as intermediary.
The Midrash Yalkut Shimoni quotes a tradition in which the messenger is harmed - a clear reminder of the transphobia that is part of our heritage and must be faced - and fought.
“When Haman saw Hatach coming and going between Mordechai and Esther, he kicked and killed him.”
As for Esther - she dictates her decision to Hatach, instructing all the Jews to fast for three days, as she will as well, in preparation for her unlawful entrance into the king’s inner chamber.
“If I am to perish, I will perish” she concludes her message to Mordechai and prepares for her dangerous mission - the biggest moment of her life and a milestone in our history. And guess who will help her prep and rise to the challenge?
Image: Ahasuerus and his seven eunuchs, (Esther 1:10), Esther Scroll, Zürich, Braginsky Collection, S58. e-codices
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