ABSTRACT
The king of the ancient Near East is a warrior among warriors, a man who feminizes as well as kills his enemies. Enemies are ridiculed, cursed, shamed, and mutilated. The Hebrew Bible presents us with an honor culture. In such cultures a man who has been dishonored “surrenders his own masculine identity and becomes a woman who is victimized and penetrated”. Sexual violence against men is as key to the David story as is sexual violence against women. The rape of men propels David’s rise, demonstrating both his might and his right to the throne. Biblical rape culture underpins every move men make in their competitions for power. Saul is flooded with a divine power, one that is intimately tied to the human performance of masculinity.
