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The Second Book of Kings-a book whose very title seems to assert the prerogative of male rule-is in fact filled with fascinating female characters as well as issues related to gender. In this commentary, Song-Mi Suzie Park argues that an interrogation of the masculinity of YHWH, Israel’s deity, functions as the driving force behind the narrative in 2 Kings. While the sufficiency of YHWH’s masculinity is affirmed by his military and reproductive prowess, it is also challenged and deconstructed through the painful defeats that end the book. Through a series of close readings, Park elucidates how the story of Israel’s monarchic past in 2 Kings unfolds through a process of continual reformulation of masculinity and femininity in relation to YHWH and Israel.
Song-Mi Suzie Park (PhD, Harvard University, 2010) serves as the associate professor of Old Testament at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, where she teaches courses on literary approaches to the biblical text, families, and issues of gender and sexuality. She is the author of Hezekiah and the Dialogue of Memory as well as several articles and essays.
