Humour in the Bible (6) and final


As I have tried to identify some humour in the bible I’ve also come to realise that there are but a few references to laughter or laughing in holy writ.


Those references most  often have to do with the Lord laughing at his enemies, or the fear that G-d’s people will become a laughing-stock.


References to human laughter are rare.  The most wonderful exception is the laughter of Abraham’s wife Sarah, when she is told that she, in her 90’s, will conceive.  Genesis 18 v 12 says that “Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ‘After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure’”


I like to think that this is a full belly laugh; that Sarah is tickled pink that she and her 100 year old husband will again enjoy sexual intercourse, and that she will become pregnant.


Other interpreters would say that her laugh is the laugh of a cynical woman who had long since given up the hope of bearing a child.




Much later in biblical chronology Jeremiah has good things to say about what will happen when the people of Judah are restored to their homeland.


Jeremiah states that in this restoration the streets will be filled with “the voices of those who make merry” (Chapter 30), and “the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness” (Chapter 33). 


“Making merry”, “mirth” and “gladness” certainly imply laughter!


Psalm 126 also states that in the restoration of the people after exile there will be laughter: “Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing”




My series on “Humour in the Bible” has this far draw only from the Hebrew Scriptures (the “Old Testament”).


I think that there are also references in the Gospels which would lead us to understand that Jesus was a very funny man.  But I must draw my breath for a few or more days, before I blog about the humour of Jesus.








Comments

  1. Unknown25 January 2010 at 09:18

    I found your words about humor in the Bible encouraging. In fact I tried to put them to good use yesterday, 24 Jan, when I read 1 Cor 12:12-31A. Paul talks about the human body and makes what to me are some interesting remarks about one part without another.

    Paul, then, of course, makes the equation of the metaphor to the body of Christ. The absurdity of his comments, however, put me in mind of the absurdity of some of the distinctions that are made between "my way or the highway" kinds of Christianism.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Catwink194129 January 2010 at 22:09

    I will add that Jesus probably loved to sing and dance and drink!!! I am very glad to read that the person who had charge of wine at a wedding in his time was the groom!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Catwink194129 January 2010 at 22:12

    PS: I looked up this date as I turned 69 today! I am SO happy to be older! Besides the point that I am old because I didn't die young, I no longer hold onto OLD things in my house or in my head or heart. I am forever young! I no longer hold my stomach in either! YAY!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shoe insults

Last year I consulted with a local podiatrist: Dr. Robert F Herbold Jr. D.P.M. 4717 Swift Rd., Sarasota , FL – 34231  because I was being bothered with a couple of bunions  (yes I am at that age). I was very impressed with this Doctor.  He agreed that I had bunions, but he ventured that it was much too soon for surgery. (Now there’s a first). Instead he recommended some “arch supports” to relieve the tension for my feet, a tension which was exacerbating the bunions. What’s more -  he told me that he sells these arch supports at the miserly sum of $2.50 each (about 1/5 of the price in the local pharmacies). He is an honest man, and I recommend him to anyone with foot problems. So, a couple of weeks ago, having purchased some new walking shoes, I knew that I needed to buy a couple of new arch supports I took myself to his office. Once there, my mind went blank. I wanted to ask his front desk Clerk if I could buy some “shoe inserts” , as I could not rem...
Read more

It began in Bristol U.K. "A man dies" and "Jesus Christ Superstar"

Image
I well remember the swirling controversy in Bristol, U.K. when a (Presbyterian) Minister the Revd, Earnest Marviin created a ":Rock Opera", called "A Man Dies"  in and for his congregation in the Lockleaze area of Bristol, U.K. Earnest Mrvin I was a sixteen years old member of the Plymouth Brethren Church back in those days, so I most likely disapproved of "A Man Dies" .  We, (the Plymouth Brethren),  disapproved of everything! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had forgotten all about "A Man Dies" until earlier today when saw these pictures on the "Bristol, Then and Now"  Facebook page.   St. James Presbyterian Church, Lockleaze, Bristol  The Bristol Then and Now page includes the following commentary: Lockleaze, Bristol  -  'Jesus Christ Superstar' began at St.James (Presbyterian) Chur...
Read more

The background, the couple, my friends, the wedding ceremony, the Shaykh, the Priest,

Image
The background   I have known the Keller/Bonsey family since 2000 when I became the Rector at St. James's, Cambridge, MA. They (Elisabeth Keller and the Revd. Steven Bonsey with their four children Noah, Sam, Josiah and Annie) had come back to Cambridge from Hawaii where Steve had been the Rector of an Episcopal parish. Steve had just been appointed as a Chaplain at Tufts University (no Sunday morning duties) so the entire family was able to enrich our common life at St. James's - which they did with great love and joy. I count them as friends and have stayed in touch with them since my retirement.  Noah, the oldest son is eloquent in Arabic (he spent a year in Damascus when Syria was a safe place).  He has developed a super career as an analyst of social media in the near East.    Noah worked in Tampa for a while a few years ago, so he and I were a...
Read more