Equipoise

Has anyone ever found any jokes in the bible? Is there anywhere any whimsy or humour, anything to entertain the reader? Did Jesus ever crack any funnies?

GakuseiDon

I read one person who suggested that Paul was having a go at James, Peter or others over their visions, when he wrote:

"I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell." (2 Corinthians 12:2-4)"

dog-on

I think that the Gospel of Mark is a riot. Of course, the whole Christian concept of a bumbling and incompetent deity that decides to come down and sacrifice himself to himself to try to fix his eternal mistake, but still fails in the end, is simply hilarious.

Equipoise

That's an interesting one. Essentially Paul repeats himself and in doing so tells the reader that the third heaven is paradise. He might also be suggesting a distinction between being out of the body and apart from the body. But the passage does hint of a bit of personality and that he might be taking the piss out of something or someone.

Clivedurdle

David's Triumph sounded throughout the land.

Equipoise

:rolling:

It's funny but it doesn't count. That only became a joke when the motor company named and released their vehicles.

Joan of Bark

The Torah apparently contains many puns, but you have to read Hebrew to understand them.

Clivedurdle

No No! Tis a prophetic utterance foreseeing the Triumph Motorcycle Company.

Can you not imagine King David in his leathers and white silk scarf with Jonathan pillion in matching gear?

semiopen

Rachel and the Terafim is a good example.

Rachel stole the Terafim from her father Lavan.

The Terafim is a severed human head that an adept could make to utter prophecies (it's lips would move and words would come out).

When Lavan catches up to Jacob and searches for it, Rachel is apparently afraid that it will start talking and puts it on the camel and sits on it. The image is that her butt, etc is over the face of the Terafim so it can't be heard, although it is apparently moving its lips. When Lavan wants to search the camel, Rachel tells him she has her period which makes it even funnier.

PhilosopherJay

Hi Semiopen,

Thanks. Good image.

I think Ezekiel 4:12-13, where Yeweh commands the children of Israel to eat bread mixed with human excrement must be a joke.

The some-called "water into wine miracle" (John 2.1-11), I take as a joke. The guests are drunk at Jesus' wedding. Jesus doesn't know what to do. Jesus' mom tells the servants to serve them water. They are so drunk that they think it is the best wine of all. Its a cute "Mom knows best story." Witless later Christians didn't get the joke and reading against the text declared that Jesus had performed a miracle of making the water into wine.

Warmly,

Philosopher Jay