Using social-scientific criticism, this work presents a reading of Daniel 1-6 as literature of resistance. The characters and episodes of these tales are read against a backdrop of social competition for the cultural value of honor. Each of the tales of Daniel 1-6 is analyzed, revealing a comparison that is sustained throughout the compilation and that pits the Judean tradition in competition with a dominant foreign tradition. The dynamics of comparison and competition are explored in each tale with the help of social-scientific models depicting honor and exploring the related dynamics of purity, patronage, virtue, limited good, and envy. This work is particularly useful for scholars and students interested in social-scientific criticism and the value of that methodology for Hebrew Bible study, as well as for those interested in Daniel, honor and shame, ancient rhetoric, and cultural resistance in the postexilic period.
Author(s): Shane Kirkpatrick
Series: Biblical Interpretation Series 74
Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
Year: 2005
Language: English
Pages: 214
Competing for Honor: A Social-Scientific Reading of Daniel 1–6......Page 4
Contents......Page 8
Figures......Page 12
Preface......Page 14
Abbreviations......Page 16
1 Introduction......Page 20
2 Social-Scientific Criticism......Page 23
2.1.1 Three Paradigms of Biblical Interpretation......Page 24
2.1.3 Critique from the Historical Paradigm......Page 27
2.1.4 Critique from the Literary Paradigm......Page 31
2.1.5 Social-Scientific Reading......Page 39
2.2.1 Divisions within the Social Sciences......Page 42
2.2.2 Paradigms for Cultural Anthropology......Page 43
2.2.3 The Anthropology of Honor......Page 44
3 A Social-Scientific Reading of Daniel 1–6......Page 46
3.1.1 Definition of Honor......Page 50
3.1.3 Achieving Honor......Page 51
3.1.6 Symbols of Honor......Page 52
3.1.8 Honor-Related Social Institutions......Page 53
3.2 Thesis and Prospectus......Page 57
1.1 Daniel 1:1–7, 17–21......Page 59
1.2 Daniel 1:8–16......Page 61
2.2 For Reading Daniel 1:8–16......Page 62
3.1 Daniel 1:1–7......Page 65
3.2.1 Daniel and the Diviners......Page 74
3.2.2 Explicit Comparison......Page 78
3.2.3 Comparing More than Diets......Page 79
3.3 Daniel 1:17–21......Page 80
4 Summary......Page 81
1.1 Daniel 2:1–30, 46–49......Page 86
1.2 Daniel 2:31–45......Page 87
2.1 Challenge and Riposte......Page 90
2.2 The Honor of Virtuous Deeds......Page 92
3.1 Daniel 2:1–13......Page 94
3.2 Daniel 2:14–30......Page 97
3.2.1 Daniel's Temperance......Page 98
3.2.3 Daniel's Righteousness......Page 99
3.2.4 Honor through Comparison......Page 102
3.2.5 Honor through Excellence......Page 104
3.3 Daniel 2:31–45......Page 105
3.4 Daniel 2:46–49......Page 107
4 Summary......Page 109
1.1 Daniel 3......Page 111
1.2 Daniel 6......Page 113
2.1 Envy......Page 114
2.2 Labelling and Deviance Theory......Page 117
3.1 Daniel 3......Page 119
3.2.1 Envy and Honor......Page 124
3.2.2 Labelling and Deviance......Page 131
4 Summary......Page 134
5. SUCCESS AND FAILURE: DANIEL 4 AND 5......Page 136
1.1 Daniel 4......Page 137
1.2 Daniel 5......Page 138
2.1 Review of the Dynamics of Honor......Page 139
2.2 Three-zone Model of Human Personality......Page 140
3.1 Daniel 4......Page 142
3.2 Daniel 5......Page 148
4 Summary......Page 156
1.1 The Value of a Social-Scientific Reading......Page 161
1.2 Results of this Social-Scientific Reading......Page 165
1.3 Contribution of this Social-Scientific Reading......Page 174
2 Historical Transposition......Page 179
3 Theological Reflection......Page 186
Bibliography......Page 193
Index of Subjects......Page 206
Index of Authors......Page 207
Index of Ancient Texts......Page 210
