"Beloved and Whole - Scripture, Eunuchs, and Belonging" A Conversation with Jared Lambert - Lift+Love Podcast Episode 84
Episode hosts Allison Dayton and Darice Auston talk with Jared Lambert, a scripture scholar and historical linguist and founder of Veiled Roots.
They discuss eunuchs in scripture as a lens for inclusion of marginalized people in faith communities. They discuss Isaiah’s teaching that eunuchs and foreigners belong in God’s house, the Ethiopian eunuch’s baptism in Acts 8, and Jesus’ remarks on eunuchs in Matthew 19, emphasizing the absence of condemnation and repeated patterns of inclusion. Allison shares a personal story connecting the term “eunuch” with her gay brother, leading to a lifetime of study. Jared discusses biblical references in Isaiah 56, Acts 8, and Matthew 19, notes the lack of condemnation of gender-nonconforming eunuchs in early Christian contexts, and critiques anachronistic readings. He introduces the Hebrew concept of “shema” as participatory revelation requiring individual and communal response, encouraging listeners to study and seek personal revelation.
01:23 Meet Jared Lambert
02:04 A Eunuch Story
04:46 Defining Eunuchs
06:01 Eunuchs in Scripture
07:23 Galli Priests Context
11:17 Matthew 19 Eunuchs
19:45 Shema and Revelation
23:09 Ancient Gender Categories
26:19 Isaiah 56 Inclusion
30:12 Modern Policy Tensions
30:57 Theophonic Trajectory
35:44 Social Media vs Community
36:58 Study and Personal Shema
Jared Lambert’s bio: Jared is a scripture scholar and linguist whose research focuses on the Hebrew Bible through historical linguistics, onomastics, and ancient Near Eastern cultural context. His work explores how language, temple structure, and narrative patterns reveal deeper theological architecture within the text, particularly around concepts of divine authority, priesthood, and relational understandings of the divine. He is a PhD candidate in History at Liberty University and holds degrees in History, International Affairs, Middle Eastern Studies, and Communications from the University of Utah and BYU–Idaho. Jared also trained as a linguist in the U.S. Army at the Defense Language Institute, where he specialized in Persian-Farsi and later served in multilingual analytical roles. He previously worked as a Supervising Linguist in the Sacred Materials Department for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, overseeing translation teams across global regions. He is the founder of Veiled Roots, a teaching platform and learning community dedicated to helping people return to scripture with greater depth, context, and clarity through ancient language and pattern-based study.
Website:
https://veiledroots.com
Course:
https://veiledroots.com/28-week-course/
Come Follow Me Membership:
https://veiledroots.com/comefollowme/
Instagram:
@jrichardlambert
https://www.instagram.com/jrichardlambert/
Youtube:
@JRichardLambert
https://www.youtube.com/@JRichardLambert
TikTok:
@jrichardlambert
https://www.tiktok.com/@jrichardlambert
Facebook:
JRichardLambert
https://www.facebook.com/jrichardlambert
The Lift+Love team invites you to join us for Gather Conference 2026 - the world's largest EVER Christ-centered conference for LGBTQ+ Latter-day Saints and their relatives, friends, allies, and leaders. This year's conference takes place in Provo Utah November 13-14th (plus an opening social on November 12th). We have programming for adults and youth (14+). Learn more and register at www.liftandlove.org/gather
