Masculinities, Violence and Hebrew Bible Studies

This article explores masculinities studies as a sub-field of gender studies. Both emerged in the 1990s, alongside and cross-fertilised by queer studies. Both draw on feminist criticism and frequently examine violence. Within Hebrew Bible studies, diverse explorations of masculinities by now span most of the literature. Select key examples are summarised here. Just as feminist criticism drew attention to the diversity of female experience, as well as to gender-based violence perpetrated against women, so the study of masculinities has illuminated diverse male experiences in biblical texts, while also challenging gender binarism. Divine hypermasculinity and the hegemonic masculinity of David are prominent in early investigations of biblical masculinity. The field is by now considerably more diverse but also contested.