ABSTRACT
This chapter describes in the work as a foundation for analyzing masculinity in the court tales of Daniel. It incorporates sociological approaches to gender, which introduce key concepts, especially about masculinity, that are not part of Butler's work while Judith Butler's ideas about gender have become prominent in biblical studies. The chapter discusses the contributions of sociological research on gender to biblical scholars, and shows the similarities between a sociological idea of "doing gender" and Butler's concept of gender. It discusses developments in the concept of "hegemonic masculinity" that are critical for understanding arguments about masculinity in the court tales of Daniel. A sociological perspective on gender, which understands the concept to involve things done in interactions that constitute individuals into particular sex categories, presents some challenges in working with texts from an ancient culture.
