Introduction - Defining Virginity, Making Men Part One: Testing Virginity in the Body Chapter One - Testing Virginity in the Body Chapter Two - Bloodied Sheets: The Biblical Nuptial Bed as Rape Scene Chapter Three - "Trustworthy Women" and Other Witnesses: Tweaking Deuteronomy in Pre-Rabbinic and Early Rabbinic Judaism Part Two: Testing Virginity through Faith Chapter Four - Doubts and Faith: Possible Alternatives in Three First-Century Jewish Authors Chapter Five - Struck by Wood, Struck by God: Virginity Beyond/Despite Anatomy Part Three: Subjecting Virginity Chapter Six - Open Doors and Accused Brides: Subjectivity and a New Standard for Virginity Testing in Rabbinic Babylonia Chapter Seven - Impure Nuptials and Sex as Work: The Bavli's Attempted Divorce of Virginity from Violence Chapter Eight - (De)Mythologizing the Hymen: Augustine, the Bavli, and the Rejection of Force Epilogue Bibliography

"This book will prove a valuable resource and conversation partner for students and scholars of classical and antique expressions of Judaism, Christianity, gender, and sexuality." -- Michael R. Whitenton, Baylor University, Review of Biblical Literature "Signs of Virginity is a beautifully in depth and complex work that in the hands of another writer could have been impossible to follow. Michael Rosenberg does an excellent job of leading readers through a variety of texts with ease, without ever oversimplifying the complexity of each. The sheer diversity of texts he brings to the table is admirable Rosenberg's study will soon be indispensable for those interested in late antique masculinity Along with earning a spot in the ranks of masculinity studies, Signs of Virginity also belongs to a burgeoning field of scholarship that treats rabbinic Judaism and Christianity together. Rosenberg's comparison of the Babylonian Talmud with Christian sources places him in a similar vein as scholars like Michal Bar-Asher Siegal, Seth Schwartz, and Jeffrey Rubenstein."--Jeannie Sellick, Reading Religion "Rosenberg proves himself to be a master at analysis and interpretation of not only rabbinic texts, but also pre-rabbinic sources and early Christian sources, both east and west. His close readings are insightful, compelling, revisionist, if not revolutionary."--Christine Hayes, author of What's Divine about Divine Law: Early Perspectives "The intriguing paradox in Rosenberg's argument is that female virginity was critical to the making of ancient Jewish and Christian masculinities. The scholarship is insightful, and the implications profound. Breaking with the Hebrew Bible's model of aggressive male sexuality, some late antique voices made room for a manhood that was gentler and, frankly, far less bloody. This new model of masculinity forever changed gender ideals and possibilities." --Beth A. Berkowitz, author of Defining Jewish Difference: From Antiquity to the Present "Michael Rosenberg writes fluently and smoothly, progressing through a series of close textual readings that culminate in a rich and deeply layered overview of an important chapter in the histories of gender and sexuality in the biblical tradition. He is at his most insightful when dealing with these texts, but nonetheless displays a clear mastery of a wide range of ancient materials and their modern studies, from Greco-Roman medicine to feminist interpretation to Christian poetry." --Andrew Jacobs, Mary W. and J. Stanley Johnson Professor of Humanities & Professor of Religious Studies, Scripps College

Selling point: Offers a new history of male sexual aggression through the lens of female virginity Selling point: Updates Daniel Boyarin's influental argument about Rabbinic masculinity, arguing that Boyarin's gentle male is unique to Babylonia

Selling point: Offers a new history of male sexual aggression through the lens of female virginity Selling point: Updates Daniel Boyarin's influental argument about Rabbinic masculinity, arguing that Boyarin's gentle male is unique to Babylonia