Type of Document	Dissertation
Author	Tinklenberg deVega, Jessica Lyn
Author's Email Address	jtdevega@tampabay.rr.com
URN	etd-04082006-173355
Title	"A Man Who Fears God": Constructions of Masculinity in Hellenistic Jewish Interpretations of the Story of Joseph
Degree	Doctor of Philosophy
Department	Religion, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title David Levenson Committee Chair Karen Laughlin Committee Member Nicole Kelley Committee Member
Keywords	Joseph and Aseneth Josephus Philo gender Hellenistic Judaism masculinity History of Interpretation
Date of Defense	2006-03-24
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract Hellenistic Jewish interpreters of the Bible often restructured and modified biblical texts in an effort to further their own ideological perspectives. Among the many adaptations they made, these exegetes often sought to transform the familiar stories to better fit or express their own constructs of gender identity. This study attempts to uncover the ideologies of masculinity in three first-century Hellenistic Jewish texts: The Jewish Antiquities of Josephus, Philo’s De Somniis, and the anonymous Joseph and Aseneth. The texts were studied by means of a close reading for the rhetorical structures of each author, particularly noting the ways terminology and literary structures describing maleness are held in opposition to femaleness, and assuming that gender was a culturally constructed (rather than innate or essential) category. In the course of the study, a variety of constructions are confirmed: masculinity as dominance over the self (Josephus), as sexual propriety and non-violence (Joseph and Aseneth), and as avoidance of eunuchism, feminine company, and violating establish hierarchies (Philo). As these three exegetes represent only a small number of those writing at the time, this variety suggests that there may be many more constructions of maleness present in Hellenistic Jewish literature of the era.
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