Chamberlain

2Ki 23:11, An officer who had charge of a king’s lodgings and wardrobe. In eastern courts eunuchs were generally employed in this office, Gen 1:1-22,10,12,15 . This title in 1Ch 16:23 probably denotes the steward or treasurer of the city.\par

Chamberlain. An officer attached to the court of a king, who formerly had charge of the private apartments, or chambers, of the palace. He kept the accounts of the public revenues. The office held by Blastus, "the king’s chamberlain," was entirely different from this. Act 12:20. It was a post of honor which involved great intimacy and influence with the king. For chamberlain, as used in the Old Testament, see Eunuch.

Rom 16:23; Erastus, oikonomos, steward or public treasurer of the city, who kept account of the revenues. Latin arcarius. So in inscriptions in Marm. Oxon., 85, Neilos is called oikonomos of Asia. On the other hand Blastus was chamberlain (epi tou koitonos tou basileos) in a different sense, namely, over the king’s bedchamber, a post of honor and intimacy (Act 12:20).

(סָרַיס, saris’, 2Ki 23:18; Est 1:10; Est 1:12; Est 1:14; Est 2:3; Est 2:14-15; Est 2:21; Est 4:4-5; Est 6:2; Est 6:14; Sept. regularly εὐνοῦχος, twice σπάδων, all signifying castrated; in other places it is translated "eunuch," or "officer"). The term appears to have been applied to officers confidentially employed about the person of the sovereign; thus Potiphar, who was also captain of the guard, in the Egyptian court, is styled thus (Gen 37:36; Gen 39:1). It probably also occurs in the title Rabsaris (q.v.). The title "chamberlain" (οἰκονόμος), in Rom 16:23, probably denotes the steward or treasurer of the city, called by the Romans the quaestor. The Vulg. renders it by arcarius, which was the title of a class of inferior magistrates, who had the charge of the public chest (area publica), and were under the authority of the senate. They kept the accounts of the public revenues. (See Reinesius, Syntagm. Inscr. p. 431; La Cerda, Advers. Sacr. cap. 56; Elsner, Obs. Sacs. 2, p. 68; and a note by Reinesius to the MAarmora Oxoniessia,’ p. 515, ed. 1732.) Blastus is said in Act 12:20, to have been "the king’s (Herod’s) chamberlain" (ὁ ἐπι τοῦ κοιτῶνος τοῦ βασιλέως), by which is probably meant his personal attendant or valet de chambre. It was a post of honor, which involved great intimacy and influence with the king. The margin of our version gives "that was over the king’s bedchamber," the office thus corresponding to that of the praefectus cubiculo (Suetonius, Dom. 16). SEE EUNUCH.

Chamberlain

in a monastery, was overseer of the dormitory, and purchased clothes, bed furniture, and other necessaries. He received all considerable sums of money or other dues. He acted as treasurer, having the charge of nearly every considerable payment. At Durham his exchequer was near the abbey gates, under which was the tailors shop for making linsey-woolsey shirts and tunics for the monks and novices, and whole and half socks of white woolen cloth. At Abington his chamber was in the dormitory. He provided copes, albs, cowls, coverlets, hoods, shoes and boots, towels, combs, knives, beds, straw pelisses, stools, bed-perches, hot water, tools for the tailors and cordwainers, five lights burning in the dormitory from twilight to dawn, and baths three times a year. At Canterbury he provided mats, blankets, razors, all the monks’ clothing, horseshoes for the farriers, and glass for the dormitory. The old clothing was distributed by him to the poor. Under him were the laundry folk, peltmen, or skin dressers, tailors, shoemakers, etc. In a cathedral he was often called the provost, and, like the massarius in Italy chamarier of Lyons, Strasburg, and Saragossa, was the receiver of rents and paymaster of the stipends and money for pittances, and general accountant of income and keeper of the common chest. He was annually elected, and took precedence of canons while in office. At St. Paul’s he found the necessaries for divine service and posted the summonses of prebendaries to chapter on their stalls, and at York acted as punctator of the absences of the vicars. In the latter instance he might be a vicar.

Chamberlain. 2Ki 23:11. An officer who had charge of the royal chambers, or the king’s lodgings, wardrobes, etc. Est 1:10; Est 1:12; Est 1:15 A. V. The R. V. reads "chamberlains," but has "or eunuchs" in the margin. The word occurs twice in A. V. of N. T., but entirely different offices are meant in the Greek. Blastus, "the king’s chamberlain," mentioned in Act 12:20. "held a post of honor which involved great intimacy and influence with the king." Erastus, "the chamberlain of the city of Corinth," Rom 16:23, was the treasurer of the city; the R. V. reads "treasurer."

1. Eunuch who had care of the king’s wives and concubines. 2Ki 23:11; Est 1:10-15; Act 12:20.

2. Chamberlain, i.e., the treasurer or steward of the City of Corinth, whose salutations Paul sent to Rome. Rom 16:23.

By: Emil G. Hirsch, Gerson B. Levi

The English rendering of . This Hebrew word is also translated "officer" (Gen. xxxvii. 36; II Kings viii. 6). If "chamberlain" is to be used at all, it must be taken in a very broad sense. The chamberlain is sometimes a mere servant (Acts xii. 20), or messenger (II Kings viii. 6); at other times he holds a position of trust, and even has charge of the finances (Rom. xvi. 23). See Eunuch and Offices.

In Jer. li. 59 the word stands for , which is incorrectly given by the A. V. as "a quiet prince." The chamberlain here referred to was a brother of Baruch, the secretary of Jeremiah.

CHAMBERLAIN.—In OT the word occurs in 2Ki 23:11 and repeatedly in Est., where the original is ‘eunuch’ (sârîs); but it is generally believed that this name is not to be taken always in a literal sense, and hence it is often rendered by the word ‘officer.’ In Esther, however, the chamberlain evidently belongs to that class of persons who are entrusted with the watchful care of the harems of Oriental monarchs. In NT at Act 12:20 it is said that the people of Tyre and Sidon sought the favour of Herod Agrippa through the mediation of Blastus ‘the king’s chamberlain,’ showing that the office was one of considerable influence. The word occurs again in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] in Rom 16:23, but is rendered in RV [Note: Revised Version.] more accurately ‘treasurer of the city.’

Title of several classes of palace officials of the Roman court. See

• Privy Chamberlains

• Privy Chamberlains to His Holiness

• Chamberlain of Honor of the Purple Heart

• Chamberlain of Honor Extra Urbem

• Privy Chamberlains of Sword and Cape

• Chamberlains of Honor of Sword and Cape

See also: camerlengo; Maestro di Camera del Papa

(Latin camerarius).The title of certain papal officials. The Low Latin word camera (chamber) means the treasure of the prince, monastery, etc.; also in general the royal treasury (fiscus), the temporal administration of a monastery. The term camerarius was, therefore, very frequently equivalent to civil treasurer, and in the case of monasteries meant the monk charged with the administration of the monastic property. This is also the sense of the Italian term camerlengo, still borne at Rome by three ecclesiastics, (1) The Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, (2) the Camerlengo of the Sacred College (of Cardinals), and (3) the Camerlengo of the Roman Clergy. The Roman confraternities have also an officer similarly entitled.(1) The Camerlengo of the Holy Roman ChurchThe Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church is the administrator of the property and the revenues of the Holy See, and as such is successor both of the Archdeacon of Rome and of the Vicedominus, the former of whom administered the property of the entire Roman Church, i.e. the Diocese of Rome, while the latter was especially charged with the administration of the mensa of the pope and the entire personnel of the patriarchium Lateranense (St. John Lateran).This latter official was the same as the syncellus at Constantinople. The office of Archdeacon of Rome was suppressed by Gregory VII, himself its last incumbent under Alexander II; owing to its numerous ancient privileges and rights it had come to be a frequent hindrance to independent papal action. When these were lopped off, the (Roman) office of arch-deacon shrank to its original proportions. Thereafter the cardinal to whom was committed the supervision of the Camera Apostolica (a term even then customary for the administration of the temporalities of the Holy See) was known as Camerarius or, in popular language, Camerlengo. The subordinates of this official are known as clerks (chierici) of the Camera; chief among them are the treasurer and the auditor di Camera. Their body is known as Reverenda Camera Apostolica (see APOSTOLIC CAMERA). When the cardinal-camerlengo happened to be absent on some pontifical business, a vice-camerlengo was chosen in his place. The office of camerlengo included not only the supervision of the immediate properties of the Holy See, but also the fiscal administration of the Pontifical States, the Patrimonium Petri.The following were its chief attributions: the collection of the taxæ, or dues paid for the delivery of the Bulls of appointment to dioceses and abbeys (see CHANCERY, APOSTOLIC); the registry of the oblations or gifts of the faithful; charge of the papal coinage (Moneta); jurisdiction, civil and criminal, over officials of the Camera (chierici di Camera). Under the Avignon popes and their successors the office of camerlengo received more definite organization; at the same time its rights and jurisdiction were increased. When Boniface VIII founded the Roman University (Sapienza) he decreed that the cardinal-camerlengo should be always its archchancellor. Briefly the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church was, for the Papal States, Minister of Finance, Public Works, and Commerce. From the sixteenth century the office was purchasable from the Papal Government. Cardinal Cibo bought it in 1521 for 35,000 scudi; Cardinal Vitellozzo, under Pius IV, for 70,000 scudi, and under Pius V Cardinal Cornaro paid as much for the place; the revenue thus gained served to keep up the wars against the Turks, etc. By the Constitution "Post Diuturnos" Pius VII restricted greatly the authority of the camerlengo, in keeping with the thorough reorganization of the Papal Government undertaken by him. Between the death of the pope and the election of his successor (sede vacante) the cardinal-camerlengo is the head of the Sacred College. It is his duty to verify the death of the pope (see POPE), to direct the preparations for the conclave, and to take charge of the same.(2) The Camerlengo of the Sacred CollegeThe Camerlengo of the Sacred College (of Cardinals) does not antedate Leo X (1513-21). He administers all fees and revenues belonging to the College of Cardinals, pontificates at the requiem Mass for a deceased cardinal, and is charged with the registry of the "Acta Consistoralia" (see PAPAL CONSISTORY).(3) The Camerlengo of the Roman ClergyThe Camerlengo of the Roman Clergy is elected by the canons and parish priests of Rome; he has an honorary place in the great processions, presides over the ecclesiastical conferences of the parochial clergy, acts as arbiter in all questions of precedence, and administers the "oath of free estate" (juramentum de statu libero), obligatory on persons desirous of marrying.----------------------------------- BOUIX, De Curia romana (Pari, 1880); BANGEN, Die römische Curie (Münster, 1854); HUMPHREY, Urbs et Orbis (London, 1899), 359-60. U. BENIGNI Transcribed by Wm Stuart French, Jr. Dedicated to Howard Dawson Taylor, Jr. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IIICopyright © 1908 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, November 1, 1908. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York

chām´bẽr-lin: In the Old Testament the word rendered chamberlain, סריס, ṣārı̄ṣ, is more properly “eunuch,” an officer which oriental monarchs placed over their harems (Est 1:10, Est 1:12, Est 1:15; Est 2:3, Est 2:14, Est 2:21; Est 4:4 f; Est 6:2, Est 6:14; Est 7:9; 2Ki 23:11). This officer seems also to have had other duties. See under EUNUCH. In the New Testament (1) οἰκονόμος, oikonómos, literally manager of the household, apparently the “treasurer” as in the Revised Version (British and American) “Erastus the treasurer of the city saluteth you” (Rom 16:23). Compare adapted use as applied to Christian apostles and teachers, bishops, and even to individual members; in which cases, rendered “stewards” (1Co 4:1; Tit 1:7; 1Pe 4:10). (2) In Act 12:20, “Blastus the king’s chamberlain” (ho epı́ toú koitō̇nos toú basiléōs, “he who is over the king’s bed-chamber”), not treasure-chamber, as above; here praefectus cubiculo, or chief valet de chambre to the royal person, a position involving much honor and intimacy.

The only person clearly designated as such in the NT is Blastus, ὁ ἐðὶ ôïῦ êïéôῶíïò ôïῦ âáóéëÝùò (sc. Herod Agrippa i.), whom the Tyrians and Sidonians persuaded to befriend them against the king’s displeasure at Caesarea, and to obtain peace for them ‘because their country was nourished by the king’s country’ (Act_12:20). The office he held would obviously involve great intimacy and influence with the king. Erastus, who is called ‘the chamberlain of the city’ in Rom_16:23 (Authorized Version ; Revised Version ‘treasurer’), held a different office (see Steward). The eunuch of Act_8:27 ff. also held a different office he ‘was over all’ the queen’s ‘treasure’ (see Ethiopian Eunuch).

C. L. Feltoe.