ויאמר - זה אשפנז היה סריס והוא היה פקיד על כל הסריסים המשרתים ונשיו, וכתוב בדברי יחזקאל והיו סריסים בהיכל מלך בבל. [Daniel 1:3] Va-yomer ha-melech (וַיֹּאמֶר הַמֶּלֶךְ - Then the king ordered): This Ashpenaz was a saris (סָרִיס) [official/eunuch – Ibn Ezra will discuss the term below], and he was the appointed officer over all the sarisim (סָרִיסִים) [officials/eunuchs] who served [the king] and his wives. And it is written [in Isaiah, quoting the prophecy given to Hezekiah concerning his descendants]: “and they shall be sarisim [officials/eunuchs] in the palace of the king of Babylon” [Isaiah 39:7].
רב - גדול כמו קרית מלך רב. ע"כ אמר יפת: כי הם דניאל וחבריו וראייתו שאמר מזרע המלוכה. ולא דבר נכונה, כי הכתוב הוא: ויהי בהם מבני יהודה ואחרים מזרע המלוכה, שהיו סריסים ולא תמצא בדניאל שהיה סריס, רק כתוב עליו ועל חביריו ילדים, אין בהם כל מום ואין מום קשה מן הסריס ודניאל וחביריו לא צוה המלך ללמדם ספר, שהוא מכתב כשדים ולשונם, רק שיעמדו לפני המלך ולא לפני נשיו. ואם טען הטוען: אם דבריך אמת שלא היו סריסים, למה הפקיד המלך עליהם שר הסריסים? התשובה: כי צוה המלך לבקש מישראל ילדים וטובי מראה והנבלים עד היום נודעים במשכב זכור. ועוד: כי אם יסורס הנער תחסר דעתו והוא מבקש להיותם העומדים לפניו יודעי כל חכמה כאשר פירשתי. ורבי יהושע אמר: כי מלת סריסים בלשון הקודש על שני טעמים: האחד: מסורסים. והשני: משרתים. ושר הסריסים היה שר על משרתי המלך וכמוהו עם הסריסים והגבורים, ואין צורך כי הסריסים היו שרים על הגבורים, בעבור היותם עבדי המלך דוד, והוא לא סרסם רק כך לקחם בשביה והיו שומרי נשיו כמשפט המלכים עד היום. וכמוהו ואת נשי המלך ואת סריסיו. וכתוב: ומן העיר לקח סריס אחד אשר הוא פקיד על אנשי המלחמה. [Daniel 1:3] Rav (רַב - Chief): [Means] great, as in “the city of a great king” [Psalms 48:3]. Therefore, Yefet [ben Ali] said that they [those brought under this order] were Daniel and his companions, and his proof is that it says “of royal descent.” But he did not speak correctly. For the verse [Daniel 1:6] states: “And among these were, of the children of Judah...” [implying Daniel's group was specifically from Judah], and others [chosen were] “of royal descent” [and nobility, as per v. 3]. [Yefet implies] that they [Daniel and companions] were sarisim [in the sense of eunuchs]. But you will not find [any indication] that Daniel was a saris [eunuch]. Rather, it is written about him and his companions: “youths in whom there was no blemish” [Daniel 1:4]. And there is no blemish more severe than [being made] a saris [eunuch]! Furthermore, the king did not command [Ashpenaz] to teach Daniel and his companions the “script” (which is the writing of the Chaldeans) and their language merely [for any service], but specifically “that they might stand before the king” [Daniel 1:5], and not [primarily] before his wives [a role often assigned to eunuchs]. And if an objector argues: If your words are true that they were not sarisim [eunuchs], why did the king appoint the Chief of the Sarisim over them? The answer: Because the king commanded to seek from Israel “youths... handsome in appearance” [Daniel 1:4]. And wicked men, even today, are known for homosexual practices. Furthermore, if a youth is castrated (yesoras - יְסֹרַס), his intellect diminishes, and he [Nebuchadnezzar] was seeking for those standing before him to be knowledgeable in all wisdom, as [the text later] explains [Daniel 1:4]. And Rabbi Yehoshua said: The word sarisim (סָרִיסִים) in the Holy Tongue [Hebrew] has two meanings: The first is castrated ones [eunuchs, cf. Esther 1:10]. The second is ministers/officials/servants [cf. II Kings 24:15]. Thus, the Chief of the Sarisim was the chief over the king's ministers/servants. Like [an example using the word is]: “...with the sarisim and the mighty men (gibborim - גִּבֹּרִים)” [II Kings 24:14 - listing groups exiled]. And there is no need [to think based on this listing that] the sarisim were necessarily officers over the mighty men, simply because they were servants of King David [or perhaps, servants of the king, like David's officials were]. He [Nebuchadnezzar] did not castrate them [Daniel and companions]; rather, he took them thus in captivity. [While other captives] might have become guardians of his wives, according to the practice of kings to this day [and those might be eunuchs]. And similarly [an example where saris likely means official]: “...and the king’s wives and his sarisim” [II Kings 24:15, listing Jehoiachin's exiled household]. And it is [also] written: “And from the city he took one saris who was appointed over the men of war” [Jeremiah 52:25]. [This clearly shows saris can mean a high-ranking military official, not necessarily a eunuch].
ומלת הפרתמים – זרה ולא תמצא במקרא רק במגלת אסתר, אולי הוא לשון כשדים או פרסיים כמו סגנים. [Daniel 1:3] U-min ha-partemim (וּמִן־הַפַּרְתְּמִים - And of the nobility): The word ha-partemim (הַפַּרְתְּמִים) is foreign/uncommon and is not found in Scripture except in the Scroll of Esther [Esther 1:3; Esther 6:9]. Perhaps it is a Chaldean or Persian word, similar in meaning to s'ganim (סְגָנִים - governors/prefects).