Abstract
Several foreign rulers (Egyptian, Moabite, Cannanite, Persian, 'Babylonian' and Israelite) are configured in the Hebrew Bible as obtuse. This paper explores the configuration from two perspectives: humour and feminist concerns. The foreign rulers are presented as ludicrous, with bitter humour bordering on malice and contempt for their (im)potence. Their reported inadequacy is satirized by scornful allusions to their maleness and male sexuality, at times also to their bodily functions. These rulers' ineptitude is negatively mirrored by their relations with women and the latter's smarter actions. The configuration discloses the political and gender ideologies it is grounded in. 'Foreign' means a threat; humour is an important weapon for the politically powerless. Females are inferior social agents, and their resourcefulness amplifies male (foreign) shortcomings.
The reading offered is corroborated by the exclusion of the offensive materials from Flavius Josephus's recounting of the relevant texts.
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