כַּרְכַּס
𐤊𐤓𐤊𐤎
Karekas
H3752 noun
SILEX Entry
Definition
A proper name referring to Karkas, identified as one of the court officials (eunuchs/attendants) serving King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) in the Persian royal court. The name designates an individual rather than conveying an abstract or common noun sense in Hebrew, and appears solely within a specific narrative context in the book of Esther.
Semantic Range
proper name; Karkas, a Persian royal official; one of the attendants (eunuchs) of King Ahasuerus
Root / Etymology
Persian origin; etymology uncertain. The word is a personal name, likely reflecting a title or characteristic preserved in Hebrew from a Persian source. It does not derive from a recognizable Hebrew root.
Historical & Contextual Notes
כַּרְכַּס appears exclusively in Esther 1:10 as the name of one of seven officials (often rendered 'eunuchs' or 'court attendants') serving the Persian king Ahasuerus. The narrative situates Karkas within the later Persian period, distinctive from earlier Israelite or Judahite usage. The name is directly transliterated in Hebrew from a Persian original, though the precise meaning in Persian is not certain. English translations often simply transliterate the name (Karkas/Carcas). No evidence associates the name with Israelite or Judahite identity, and it functions only as a character marker in the text. In the wider context of Esther, such foreign personal names reflect the cosmopolitan and exilic setting of the Judean community under Persian rule, and indicate the use of non-Hebrew terms for royal functionaries.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
of Persian origin; Karkas, a eunuch of Xerxes; Carcas.
Bantu Hebrew
No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been recorded for this word yet.
Root Family
uncertain (Baleadan) — uncertain
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| H1002 | בִּירָה | the citadel |
| H105 | אֲגַרְטָל | bowls of |
| H1081 | בַּלְאֲדָן | Baladan |
| H1085 | בִּלְדַּד | Bildad |
| H1095 | בֵּלְטְשַׁאצַּר | Belteshatsar |
Word Forms
1 distinct form
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H3752-01 |
וְ/כַרְכַּ֔ס | vekharekas | HC/Np |
and Carcas | and Karkas | and Karekas | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
1 occurrence
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H3752-01 |
Esther 1:10 | וְ/כַרְכַּ֔ס | vekharekas | HC/Np |
and Carcas | and Karkas | and Karekas |