$95.00

The study of masculinity in the Bible is increasingly becoming established as a field of critical inquiry in biblical gender studies. This book highlights a variety of methodological approaches that reveal the complex and multifaceted construction of masculinity in biblical and postbiblical literature. It focuses uniquely and explicitly on men and the world they inhabit, documenting changes in the type of men and masculinities deemed legitimate, or illegitimate, across various social and historical contexts of the ancient Near East. At the same time, it interrogates readers’ assumptions about the writers’ positioning of male bodies, sexuality, and relationships in a gender order created to reflect men’s interests, yet in need of constant reordering.

In this volume specific features of biblical masculinity are explored: the masculinity of less favored sons in Genesis (Susan Haddox); the ideology of temple masculinity in Chronicles (Roland Boer); the masculinity of Moses (Brian DiPalma); the performative nature of masculinity in the Sinai episode (David Clines); Deuteronomy’s regimentation of masculinity (Mark George); Joshua’s hegemonic masculinity in the conquest narrative (Ovidiu Creanga); Naaman’s disability in relation to ideologies of masculinity (Cheryl Strimple and Ovidiu Creanga); Job’s position as a man in charge in the Testament of Job (Maria Haralambakis); Priestly notions of sexuality in the covenant of the rainbow and circumcision in Genesis (Sandra Jacobs); Samson’s masculinity in terms of male honor (Ela Lazarewicz-Wyrzykowska); the popular depiction of Jeremiah as a “lamenting prophet” against the book of Jeremiah’s male ideology (C. J. Patrick Davis); and the gendered interaction of a Bible-study group with Daniel’s dreams (Andrew Todd). Finally, David Clines and Stephen Moore offer closing critical reflections that situate the book’s topics within a broader spectrum of issues in masculinity.

The SBL is the North American distributor for Sheffield Phoenix Press. Customers outside of North America can purchase this book directly from Sheffield Phoenix by clicking here.