ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the role of discourse in constructing masculinity in the court tales of Daniel. It assesses the limited and ambiguous evidence pertaining to the concept. The chapter suggests that the category is too narrow for all discourse and too broad for what it purports to cover. It proposes another approach to analyzing the role of all discursive activity, persuasive or otherwise, to gender. The chapter describes how characters use discourse to do gender in the court tales of Daniel. It shows how characters in the court tales of Daniel use discourse to do gender in various ways and to varying degrees. Biblical scholars have used the concept of persuasive speech for analyzing masculinity in relation to David, the patriarchs in Genesis, Pharaoh and Moses in Exodus, and Joshua. In particular, the category of persuasive speech proves too narrow for analyzing the relevance of all discourse to gender: not all discourse is oriented toward persuasion.
