The Bible and humor is a topic of Biblical criticism concerned with the question of whether parts of the Bible were intended to convey humor in any style. Historically, this topic has not received much attention, but modern scholars generally agree that humor can be found in biblical texts.
Scholarly assessment
Finding humor in the Bible, for those who hold reverence toward the Bible, can be hindered by that seriousness, but it can be difficult for anyone to pick up on, because humor does not translate well from culture to culture or from language to language. It is also difficult to recognize humor in written form. The age of the texts makes it difficult to be sure that what readers today are interpreting as humor was intended as humor by the author. Finding humor in the Bible requires a broad eclectic definition of humor and some awareness of literary types of humor such as satire, farce, parody, irony and so on. Therefore, the vast majority of Bible interpreters over the last 1,500 years have not only not detected humor in the Bible, they have often discounted or even disdained the possibility of humor in the Bible.
Professor Yehuda T. Radday notes that some scholars have flat out denied that humor in the Bible exists. He references a 1984 conference in Israel on the subject of Jewish humor, where no attention was given to humor in the Bible. Radday goes on to say "it is a widespread misconception that the Bible is lacking in humor."
Scholars like Steven C. Walker, a professor of literature, and Howard R. Macy, a professor of religion, claim humor is prevalent in the Bible. Macy says that "if we think that humor in the Bible mostly looks like stand-up comedy or telling jokes, we won't see much of that." Anthony J. Perotta, priest and professor at Fuller Seminary, argues that: ... humor as we know it today is probably not part of the Bible any more than love (and marriage, etc.) as we know it today is a feature of the Bible. But this is a minor point, maybe even trivial and pedantic. ... The ancient Hebrews loved and married—and joked—no doubt, in a different idiom than "we" do, but they still engaged in such activities and we can speak about those activities without being anachronistic or solipsistic
Professor of Jewish theology and Near Eastern studies Leonard Greenspoon says, "In sum, biblical humor is certainly not stand-up comedy nor is it especially cerebral either. Rather, it is participatory and fully in keeping with the overall themes and emphases of the Hebrew Bible." Author David A. Peters states that he finds over a thousand "humorous lines and stories" in the Bible.
There is general agreement that the kind of humor that can be found in the Bible becomes apparent when the Bible is viewed as literature. Rev. Marion Daniel Shutter asserts we would find genuine wit if, in literature other than the Bible, we came across sentences such as that found in Proverbs 26:17: Interfering in someone else's argument is as foolish as yanking a dog's ears. He says, "When Isaiah characterizes certain ones as 'mighty to drink wine and men of strength to mingle strong drink,' does he not use essentially the same reproach Prince Hal fastened upon Falstaff, 'Wherin is he good but to taste sack and drink it?" Macy says the Bible authors use dark humor, satire, a great deal of wit, and are particularly fond of the dry humor that goes with exaggeration. Walker adds, "The humor of the Bible is deadpan. It sneaks up on you."
When discussing biblical humor scholars generally agree humor is often in the situation itself. Macy gives the examples of Sarah having Isaac at the age of ninety, and the Messiah turning up in a barn. Macy says "The Bible gives us tale after tale of comic reversals and narrow escapes." He says "mischievous exploits", names and name changes, literary plays on words, exaggeration, and the unexpected: a surprising word, an unexpected phrase, or an abrupt change of direction are what the Bible uses to convey wit and humor. According to Macy, the Book of Proverbs includes funny images and word-play while "trickster themes also bring surprise and laughter." Professor of Biblical Literature J. William Whedbee says the biblical authors use "humorous juxtaposition" where things seem funny because they're together: for example, short and tall, fat and thin, irony and paradox. Those scholars who do find humor in the Bible agree the odd, awkward, or absurd such as mismatches in character and actions, are examples of how the Bible uses humor. "Balaam the 'seer' who doesn't 'see' or 'know' what's going on, and his donkey who both sees and knows," is an example of this type of wit and humor in the Bible.
Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)
Genesis Macy, Walker, M. D. Shutter, and other scholars contend that the Book of Genesis has several stories that offer humor through absurdity, trickery, surprises and reversals. Macy says that in speaking of humor in the Bible, he usually begins with asking how it might feel to personally get the message Abraham and Sarah received, putting them into the absurd situation of a ninety-year-old having a baby. He argues that the Biblical author shows that the situation is replete with humor: "Abraham laughs, Sarah laughs, everybody else laughs, and they name the baby 'laughter' or He-laughs [Isaac Yitzack]."
Humor in Genesis, Macy says, includes "Both Abraham and Isaac trying to pass off their wives as their sisters, [however] translations of Genesis 26:8 range from [Isaac and his 'sister'] "laughing together" to "caressing" or "fondling" to "making love" giving evidence of Isaac's 'savvy' in pulling off the lie. Jacob and Laban make deals with each other that make a reader cringe. In Genesis 18, the topic is serious but bargaining with God looks a lot like buying a used car."
Walker says Genesis contains several "odd couples" that contrast and complement each other like 'Laurel and Hardy': Jacob and Esau, Abraham and Sarah, Abraham and Lot, Jacob and Laban, and others. He adds, "Bible characters learn a lot about their own 'dark sides' by those contrasts." The pattern of reversal of fundamental motifs such as primogeniture are evidence of humor according to Walker. He references 12 incidents in Genesis of younger sons getting the better of their elder brothers.
Greenspoon offers Genesis 4 as an example of Biblical humor using ironic wordplay with names. After murdering his brother and attempting to shift the blame, Cain is condemned to wander ceaselessly, but when he complains, God agrees to let him settle in the land of Nod. Greenspoon says, "The root of the Hebrew verb 'to wander' is n-w-d and "the proper name 'Nod' derives from the same root as the verb 'to wander'... What sort of settling is Cain likely to experience in a land whose very name connotes (constant) wandering?"
Exodus Greenspoon says Aaron's response to getting caught after making the golden calf is humorous. "Does Aaron come clean when confronted by his enraged brother...? Not exactly. He does attempt to shift blame—"You know this people is bent on evil". He also admits to asking the people for their gold, at the same time notably truncating the scope of his original request... Even though the biblical text had earlier narrated in some detail the active role he took ... [he says]: 'They gave it to me', Aaron concludes, 'and I hurled it into the fire and out came this calf'."
Numbers
Anthony J. Perrota and others find plenty of humor in the story of Balaam and his talking donkey in the Book of Numbers. Balaam is repeatedly asked by king Balak to curse the Israelites, but Balaam can only bless them, making the king increasingly angry. Petrotta explains that humor exposes the pretensions of a culture, and that Balak is certainly drawn as a caricature of a monarch. The story is set up in terms of threes—"three people, three incidents, etc.—that is required for many types of jokes: "A prophet, a priest and a prostitute die on the same day and came before St.Peter...where the third element breaks the pattern" and provides the joke. "Balaam is risible; Balak is pitiful. ... Their ridiculous stance is increasingly absurd with each stupidly unresponsive reaction. ... We laugh at Balaam for not seeing, but all the time the Israelites have not seen either, both what God has done above, or the consequences of what they are doing below."
Judges Shutter finds humor in the Fable of the Trees (Judges 9). Abimelech maneuvered to have himself proclaimed king in Shechem, but Jotham believed he was unfit to rule and the people foolish to accept him. Jotham contrives a satire. "The trees went forth to anoint a king over them. They said to the olive tree, 'reign over us.' But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and humans are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’ Next, the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king.’ But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?’ Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be our king.’ But the vine answered, 'Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and humans, to hold sway over the trees?' Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, 'Come and be our king'. The thornbush said to the trees, 'If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!'" Then Jotham left "for in that day, as in every subsequent age, there was no room for a satirist in the kingdom of an incompetent ruler".
Shutter also asserts that Samson is a humorous character, very similar to Ajax in Sophocles' play Ajax. Quoting Rev. A. G. L'Estrange in his History of English humor..., Shutter says: "He was an exaggeration of a not very uncommon type of man in which brute strength is joined to loose morals and whimsical fancy... We can only smile at his folly."
Greenspoon finds humor in the word play of the names and characteristics of two protagonists found in the account of the murder of the King of Moab in the second half of Judges 3. One of these characters is Ehud, a "left-handed man" from the tribe of Benjamin (Judg 3:15). "Such a description serves two functions here: first, as a play on words-—Ehud's tribe, Benjamin, literally means the son of the south, or right. (Ancient Israelites oriented themselves with the Mediterranean Sea behind them and East was straight ahead; so, the south was to their right.) Thus, it would not escape the notice of the reader that here was a "son of the south" or "the right hand" who was left-handed... Second, because Ehud was left-handed, he strapped his sword to his right thigh... the Moabite king's bodyguards, who would certainly have checked out anyone seeking admittance to their monarch, performed only a perfunctory check on Ehud, never thinking that the weapon would be on his right, rather than the expected left, thigh. It is especially the name of the Moabite king, Eglon, that would have immediately attracted the attention of an ancient reader ... Eglon comes from the same Hebrew root as the word for a fatted calf, often one prepared for sacrifice. And, of course, sacrifice is exactly what Eglon becomes at the hand of Ehud... biblical writers seemed to draw upon just such incidents to display what might be termed the wicked side of their humor."
1 Samuel
According to Shutter, Nabal, a rich man who insults David, is a dark comic character similar to Squire Western in the classic comedy Tom Jones by Henry Fielding. "He is churlish and evil... blunt in speech, rude, and even boorish in manners... The servants of Nabal say, "He is such a son of Belial [a devil] that a man cannot speak to him!' He is fond of wine and sometimes falls asleep over his cups."