Masculinities in the Court Tales of Daniel Advancing Gender Studies in the Hebrew Bible 1st Edition by Brian Charles Dipalma ISBN 9781351754552 1351754556

1 Introduction

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Contextualizing this study in biblical scholarship

1.3 Goals, argument summary, and outline

2 Issues for gender studies in the Hebrew Bible

2.1 Introduction

2.2 The issues

2.2.1 A question of method: how to study gender in biblical literature?

2.2.2 Disciplinary fit of studies of masculinity

2.2.3 Political implications of masculinity studies

2.2.4 What happens when characters deviate from gendered norms?

2.3 Summary

3 On gender and masculinity: framing the case study

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Studying gender in biblical literature informed by sociological perspectives

3.3 Doing gender in sociological scholarship

3.4 Masculinities

3.5 Concluding comments

4 Masculinity and the court tales of Daniel: identifying the issues

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Hypotheses about masculinity in the court tales of Daniel

4.2.1 Daniel 1 – competing masculinities: brawn versus beauty and brains

4.2.2 Daniel 2 – the power of knowledge

4.2.3 Daniel 3 – the king’s erect statue: a ritual of subordination gone awry

4.2.4 Daniel 4 – is Nebuchadnezzar good at being a male ruler?

4.2.5 Daniel 5 – Belshazzar and the problem (of) son(s)

4.2.6 Daniel 6 – repetition and its significance

4.3 Summary of hypotheses

5 A predominant masculinity and the court tales of Daniel

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Sources for testing the hypotheses

5.3 A culturally predominant masculinity

5.3.1 Violence, power, and masculinity

5.3.2 Producing sons, names, and masculinity

5.3.3 Protection, provision, and masculinity

5.4 Conclusions

6 Scribal masculinity and the court tales of Daniel

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Scribal masculinity in the ancient near East and the Hebrew Bible

6.3 Conclusions

7 Beauty, masculinity, and the court tales of Daniel

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Approaching beauty and masculinity

7.3 Beauty and the court tales of Daniel

7.4 Conclusions

8 Discourse, masculinity, and the court tales of Daniel

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Beyond persuasion: problems with “persuasive speech”

8.3 Another approach: using discourse to do gender

8.4 Discourse and masculinity in the court tales of Daniel

8.5 Conclusions

9 Advancing gender studies in the Hebrew Bible

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Summary of arguments and areas for future research

9.3 Revisiting the issues

9.3.1 A question of method: how to study gender in biblical literature?

9.3.2 What happens when a narrative character deviates from culturally predominant norms of gender?

9.3.3 Political implications of a study of masculinity in biblical literature

9.3.4 Disciplinary fit of a study of masculinity in biblical literature

Bibliography

Index