Courts, Banquets, and Bedchambers: Mapping (Sub-)Genre Distinctions in Biblical Narratives Set in Foreign Imperia

There are many stories in the Hebrew Bible that depict prominent Jews in the epicentre of a foreign imperia, and biblical scholarship essentially classifies every such narrative as court tales in terms of genre. Notwithstanding nuances and sub-categorisations (e.g., court contest and court conflict, wisdom court legend, success story of the wise courtier), to have one catch-all genre designation is imprudent and amorphous. This paper argues, using Formkritik and Gattungskritik, for three subgenres whereby foreign royal stories may be distinguished. One type of tale involves a foreign king who is either sleepless (Dan 6, Esth 6) or dreams (Gen 41, Dan 2 and 4); in the former, a king intervenes favourably for Jews in distress, while in the latter, the king’s dreams are interpreted by a wise Jewish courtier. Another type of tale is the imperial banquet, where an intoxicated gentile king orders the death of a high official (Dan 5, Esth 1, 5/7); this is wrought by a woman who exploits the king’s wine-induced disposition to effect lethal action with disastrous repercussions for the kingdom. Still another type of tale is the court tale proper; these episodes, however, are restricted to the courtly etiquette and decorum of courtiers who sagaciously advise the king, alongside its tensions with monotheism (Dan 3; Esth 3). As a result of this preliminary investigation, the typical setting of the political centre of the foreign imperium in Hebrew Bible narratives comprises three subgenres: court tales, banquet tales, and bedchamber tales. Since genres are determined by the common story forms, each distinct genre is scientifically determined by corresponding distinct narrative structures, vocabulary, and outcomes. Thus, what is proposed is a more illuminating distinction to the wide array and nebulous conglomeration of biblical stories involving Jews in prominent spaces within the foreign king’s court. Furthermore, the implications of the contended three subgenres involve calcifying religious practices, which become vital expressions of Judaism in the Second Temple period.