The Feminized Hero in Second Temple Judaism

Lawrence M. Wills

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN:
  9781009487122
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

The turbulent Second Temple period produced searching biblical texts whose protagonists, unlike heroes like Noah, Abraham, and Moses, were more everyday figures who expressed their moral uncertainties more vocally. Reflecting on a new type of Jewish moral agent, these tales depict men who are feminized, and women who are masculinized.  In this volume, Lawrence M. Wills offers a deep interrogation of these stories, uncovering the psychological aspects of Jewish identity, moral life, and decisions that they explore. Often written as novellas, the stories investigate emotions, psychological interiorizing, the self, agency, and character. Recent insights from gender and postcolonial theory inform Wills' study, as he shows how one can study and compare modern and ancient gender constructs. Wills also reconstructs the social fabric of the Second Temple period and demonstrates how a focus on emotions, the self, and moral psychology, often associated with both ancient Greek and modern literature, are present in biblical texts, albeit in a subtle, unassuming manner.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Title page
• Imprints page
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Note on Abbreviations and Translations
• Introduction
• 1 The Hebrew Bible Background of the Feminized and Masculinized Protagonist
• 2 A Feminized Ezra and a Masculinized Nehemiah
• 3 The Daniel Tradition and Susanna
• 4 Esther, Judith and Achior, and the Women of Rewritten Scripture
• 5 The Feminized Protagonist in Wisdom of Solomon and the Gospel of Mark
• Conclusion – and Three Post–Second Temple Examples: Shepherd of Hermas, Testament of Joseph, and Joseph and Aseneth
• Bibliography
• Subject Index
• Index of Modern Authors
• Index of Ancient Literature