ABSTRACT
The ideal man of the Hebrew Bible is a warrior well-endowed in looks and strength. In the Books of Samuel, the ideal man is someone who often engages in sexual violence. He takes women and he rapes them. He symbolically rapes men too. Sexual violence is an essential instrument for sustaining his command over other men and for performing biblical standards of model masculinity. Male characters in the Hebrew Bible, regardless of rank, belong to a system of biblical hegemonic masculinity. Hegemonic masculinity works to establish male domination and female subordination. Kinship relations are critical to biblical systems of male dominance. In David’s house, fathers, sons, and brothers use the bodies of women to compete, contest, and challenge one another.
