1175-1225; Middle English < Old French, variant of chamberlenc <
Frankish*kamerling, equivalent to kamer (< Latin camera room; see chamber ) + -ling -ling1
chamberlain in the Bible
a confidential servant of the king (Gen. 37:36; 39:1). In Rom. 16:23 mention is made of "Erastus the chamberlain." Here the word denotes the treasurer of the city, or the quaestor, as the Romans styled him. He isalmost the only convert from the higher ranks of whom mention is made(comp. Acts 17:34). Blastus, Herod's "chamberlain" (Acts 12:20), was his personal attendant or valet-de-chambre. The Hebrew word _saris_, thus translated in Esther 1:10, 15; 2:3, 14, 21, etc., properly means an eunuch(as in the marg.), as it is rendered in Isa. 39:7; 56:3.
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