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In this book, Brian Doak analyzes the way biblical authors described the bodies of some of their most iconic male heroic figures, such as Jacob, the Judges, Saul, and David. These bodies represent not mere individuals, but rather also communicate as national bodies.
List of contents
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- List of Figures
- (1) Bodies and Heroes
- Describe the Body
- Religion and the Body: A Brief Genealogy
- Embodied Biblical Studies
- Body Trajectories in Recent Hebrew Bible Research
- Define the Hero
- An Orientation to Comparative Moves
- (2) Jacob: Israel's Heroic Body
- The Body is the Nation is the Land
- The Body of the Patriarch
- Hairy and smooth, part one (Gen 25:21-26)
- Hairy and smooth, part two (Gen 27:1-40)
- Hairy and smooth bodies in comparative perspective
- Hip Wrenching
- Disabling wound
- Heroic wound
- Conclusion: A Crisscrossed Body
- (3) Heroic Bodies in Judges
- Torn Bodies, Torn Nations
- Heroic Bodies in Judges
- Judg 1:1-7: Adoni-Bezek's dismembered body
- Judg 3:15-30: Ehud the left-hander, Eglon the fat king
- Judg 4:4-24: Deborah and Jael
- Judges 13-16: Samson
- Conclusion: The Concubine, the Left-Hand, and the Body of Israel
- (4) The Iconography of the Heroic Body
- Material Exegesis of the Heroic Body
- The Iconography of Heroic Bodies in and Around Israel
- Heroic Burials and Warrior Weaponry
- Conclusion: Displaying the Body
- (5) The Height of Saul and the Beauty of David
- Where are the Bodies of Israel's Kings?
- The Heroic Body of Saul
- Tall body
- Hidden body, frenzied body
- Scene One: Small and Desirable (9:3-26)
- Scene Two: Anointed and Frenzied (9:27-10:16)
- Scene Three: Hiding in the Baggage (10:17-11:13)
- Scene Four: Small in His Own Eyes (15:17)
- Further Scenes: Hiding, Disguising, Cutting, and Other Displays
- Interlude: Goliath's Giant Body
- The Heroic Body of David
- Young and beautiful body
- Beautiful bodies in Genesis
- David's beautiful ruddy body
- Dismembering and manipulating bodies
- Dismemberment and corpse movement
- Fake bodies
- Conclusion: Two Bodies
- (6) Saul's Heroic Bones
- Saul, Again
- Interpretations and Sources
- Heroic Bone Transfer in the Western Mediterranean and Beyond
- Bone Transfer in the Saul Narrative
- Part One: The Gileadites transfer the body
- Part Two: David and the bone transfer
- Conclusion: An Ongoing Body of Power
- (7) Conclusion: Heroic Bodies Reimagined
- Index of Authors
- Index of Subjects
About the author
Brian R. Doak (PhD Harvard University) is Associate Professor of Biblical Studies and Faculty Fellow in the William Penn Honors Program at George Fox University, just outside of Portland, Oregon.
Summary
In this book, Brian Doak analyzes the way biblical authors described the bodies of some of their most iconic male heroic figures, such as Jacob, the Judges, Saul, and David. These bodies represent not mere individuals, but rather also communicate as national bodies.
Additional text
Doak offers an intriguing and clear presentation of the nature of the biblical presentation of heroes and their physical bodies. Through this work, he has made a signifcant contribution to the rapidly growing fields of masculinity studies and heroic studies. Any scholar with an interest in these topics would greatly benefit from Doak's research.
