The Hebrew Bible rightly deserves to be termed the Book of Books in the
world of letters: it is distinguished from other literary productions by
the richness of its sentences, its charm of style and diction, its pathos,
and also by the flashes of genuine humour, which here and there illuminate
its pages. Naturally its humour differs materially from the broad, rich
humour of Sterne, Cervantes, Voltaire or Heine, but it has a stamp of its
own, which is in some respects akin to that found in certain passages of
the ancient classics. One or two examples will serve.
In the first book of the _Iliad_, Homer describes a scene on Mount
Olympus, in which the Greek gods and goddesses are represented as seated
at a banquet, and waited upon by the lame Hephaestus. Observing his
halting gait, they burst into peals of laughter. Comparable, perhaps, with
this is the description of the well-known scene on Mount Carmel, when
Elijah, the true prophet of God, gathered round him the false prophets of
Baal. After they had leapt on the altar from morning unto even, crying
incessantly, “Oh, Baal, hear us,” Elijah stepped forth, and exclaimed
mockingly, “Cry ye louder, for he is a god; perhaps he talketh or walketh,
or is on a journey; or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awaked” (1
Kings xviii. 27). The Aristophanic punning on proper names is paralleled
not infrequently in the Bible. Thus, for example, the Hebrew word _Nabal_
(1 Sam. xxv. 3), which means “rogue,” is well applied as the proper name
of a man, who was noted for the baseness of his character. Characteristic,
too, is the name of one of Job's fair daughters, _Keren-happuch_ (Job
xlii. 14), which literally means “a horn (or box) of cosmetics,”
suggesting the means by which the owner of that name may occasionally have
embellished her charms. To the same class belongs the term _Tsara_
(צרה), which has the double designation of “a rival wife,” living in a
country where polygamy is in vogue, and also of “misery.” The humour
hidden in these three words is certainly not brought into prominence in
the authorized English version, where they are respectively translated by
“folly,” “Keren-happuch,” and “adversary.” From these examples it will be
seen that an acquaintance with the idiom of the Hebrew tongue is essential
to the thorough understanding of the Bible, and as Biblical critics have
hitherto paid but little attention to this particular subject, the remarks
to be offered on it in the present essay may, perhaps, be of some
interest.
A careful perusal, in the original Hebrew of certain orations in the Bible
cannot fail to impress the reader with the force of the sarcasm which the
authors, acting on the proverb, _Castigare ridendo mores_, have used in
their attacks on the shortcomings and follies of their own, and sometimes
also of other nations, with whom they happened to come into political
contact. The greatest satirist among them was undoubtedly the prophet
Isaiah, whose orations combine the pungency of satire with the charm of an
exquisite poetical style. Somewhat in the manner of Demosthenes and
Cicero, Isaiah often wages war against the vices which prevailed among the
higher and lower classes of his people. He frequently derides princes and
leaders for not preserving and upholding that true spirit of patriotism,
which generally helps to make a country secure from external invasion. “Ye
are,” he exclaims with bitter irony, “Ye are only _mighty to drink wine_,
and men of _strength_ to pour out _strong drinks_” (Isa. v. 22). Isaiah's
orations frequently contain graphic and satirical descriptions of how
things will be when that fatal day—the _dies irae_, _dies illa_—comes, on
which the enemy will reign supreme within the capital of the Judaeans,
bringing with them the suffering of famine, sickness, and pestilence.
These poorly clad and careworn men will surround the lucky owner of a
decent garment, saying: “Thou hast still clothing, be thou our ruler, and
let this ruin be under thine hand.” But he will decline the proffered
honour with the humiliating remark: “I will _not_ be an healer; for in my
house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people”
(ibid. iii. 6 and 7). The then prevailing need and distress will not be
less felt by the Jewish women, most of whom the disastrous war will have
deprived of their husbands and natural protectors. The consequence of this
will be that “On that day _seven_ women will take hold of _one_ man,
saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us
be called by thy name, and thus take away our reproach” (ibid. iv. 1).
The extravagance, wantonness, and luxurious habits of the fair daughters
of Zion, Isaiah denounces in the following drastic lines:—“Because the
daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and
wanton (or, deceiving^[3-1]) eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and
making a tinkling with their feet . . . it shall come to pass that instead
of sweet smell there shall be bad odour, and instead of a girdle a rent,
and burning instead of beauty” (ibid. iii. 16–24). And just as Isaiah
reproves the Hebrew women for their pride and arrogance, so he censures
the cowardice and effeminate habits of the men of Zion, whose motto, he
says, was “Let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die” (ibid. xxii. 13).
The burlesquing of idols and idolatry always afforded a ready mark for the
sarcasm of the prophets. As Aristophanes in _The Birds_ ridicules the
Greek gods and goddesses, so Isaiah satirizes the sham gods of _his_
country, which were held in great estimation by not a few of his own
people. His description of the origin and manufacture of an idol is
certainly full of humour. “He” (the pious idolater) “heweth down a tree
(he says) and burneth part thereof in a fire; one part serves him as
firewood, by means of which he roasteth meat and is satisfied; yea, he
warmeth himself therewith, and saith: Aha, I am warm; I have seen the
fire. And out of the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven
image: he falleth down before it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it,
and saith: Deliver me, for thou art my god” (ibid. xliv. 14–17).
With equal humour Isaiah makes merry over the false prophets of Israel,
whom he compares to blind watchmen and to dumb dogs. “His (Israel's)
watchmen,” he says, “are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb
dogs, they cannot even bark; they lie down as if dreaming, and are fond of
slumber” (ibid. lvi. 10).
Sometimes the butt of Isaiah's sarcasm were persons of high standing, who
belonged to nationalities other than his own, such as the Babylonians, the
Egyptians, the Moabites, and others. Highly diverting is the sarcastic
address which he directed to one of the Babylonian kings who, after making
an unsuccessful attempt to conquer Palestine, had been ignominiously
defeated in his own country. It is to be found in the fourteenth chapter
of Isaiah, a short extract from which runs as follows:—“The whole earth is
now (after thy fall) at rest and quiet; people break forth into singing.
Yea, even the fir-trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon,
saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us. Hell
from beneath is astir at thy coming; it rouseth up the dead for thee, even
all the chief ones of the earth; it has raised up from their thrones all
the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou
also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? . . . how art thou
fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down
to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!”
In an equally amusing and drastic manner is Babylon's fall described by
Isaiah. “And Babylon,” he says, “the glory of the kingdoms, the beauty of
the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and
Gomorrah . . . neither shall the Arabian pitch his tent there, nor shall
the shepherds make their fold in that place. But wild beasts of the desert
shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and
owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts
of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their
pleasant places” (ibid. xiii. 19–23).
Next to Isaiah, no other author of any part of the Bible is so prolific of
satirical remarks as the author of the Book of Ecclesiastes. For the
present purpose it matters very little whether the writer of the book in
question was King Solomon, to whom the authorship of the Book of Proverbs
is commonly ascribed, or some one unknown, who had assumed the pseudonym
of “Koheleth.” But this is certain that he does not belong to that class
of writers whose humour is but a mixture of bitterness and melancholy, and
who, like the authors of _Faust_ and _Manfred_, speak bitingly of humanity
at large. His humour is mostly of the cheerful order; and far from weeping
over the foibles and follies of the human race, he makes merry over them.
The gist of his philosophy may be said to be embodied in that frequently
quoted line from Amphis (_Gynaecocratia_, p. 481), which runs thus:—
Πῖνε, παῖζε· θνητὸς ὁ βίος.
ὀλίγος οὑπὶ γῇ χρόνος
(Drink and chaff, for life is fleeting; short is our time on earth). Or,
to quote Koheleth's own words: “Behold that which I have seen: it is good
and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all the
labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God
giveth him: for this alone is his portion” (Eccles. v. 17).
The objects of Koheleth's satire are of a varied description. High
functionaries of state, foolish kings, scribblers, tedious preachers,
bookworms, idlers, sceptics, fools, drunkards, women—they all come under
his scrutiny. His sympathies are always with the poor, helpless, and
oppressed, rather than for the rich and affluent, whose “abundance of
wealth does not suffer them to sleep^[6-1].” Koheleth once met a poor man,
who had long and vainly tried to obtain, in the High Court of Justice,
redress for wrongs done to him, and he put down in writing: “If thou seest
oppression of the poor, and violence done to justice and righteousness in
the provinces, do not feel astonished at that: for one that is high
watches over the high, and over them are yet higher ones” (Eccles. v. 7).
Elsewhere he condemns a land, “whose king is childish, and whose princes
_feast_ already in the _morning_,” but he praises such a one “whose
princes eat at a proper time for _strengthening_ sake, and not for the
sake of _gluttony_” (ibid. x. 16, 17). In the same chapter (5, 7) he makes
the following ironical remark: “There is an evil which I have seen under
the sun: _folly_ is set in _high places_, and the rich (in intellect)
_sit_ in _lowness_. I have seen _servants_ on _horses_, and _princes
walking like servants_ on the _ground_.”
What Koheleth thought of scribblers and tedious preachers may be gathered
from the following: “But more than all these, my son, take warning for
thyself: avoid the writing of endless books, as well as much (dull)
preaching, which is a weariness of the flesh” (ibid. xii. 12). The
bookworm, too, was no great favourite of his, for he refers to him with,
as it were, a pitiful smile: “Where there is much study, there is much
vexation, and he that increases knowledge, increases pain” (ibid. i. 18).
And again: “The wise have (as a rule) no bread, nor the man of
understanding riches, nor the man of knowledge power” (ibid. ix. 11).
Women were to some poets of antiquity, just as they are to many a writer
of modern times, a favourite subject for sarcasm, and Koheleth has also
made a few remarks about them which, in point of satire, resemble somewhat
those made by Hesiod, Simonides, and others. Though he does not compare
woman to a hog, an ape, and an ass, as several ancient writers have done,
yet the opinion he expresses about a certain class of women is by no means
flattering to the fair sex generally. “I find,” he says, “more bitter than
death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are
bonds: he that is deemed good before God will escape from her; but the
sinner will be caught by her.” And again: “_One_ (perfect) _man_ among a
thousand did I find; but _one_ perfect _woman_ among all these did I _not_
find” (ibid. vii. 26 and 28). In the Book of Proverbs, which is commonly
ascribed to the same author, there are several references to women, in one
of which a quarrelsome woman is compared to “the continual downpour on a
very rainy day.” The husband of such a woman, the author adds, would as
little succeed in hiding his wife from the outer world, as if he were
trying “to hide a _wind_, or the _perfume_ of scented oil” (ibid, xxvii.
15, 16).
In the same book (xxiii. 29–35) there is a humorous description of a
drunkard, which ought not to be omitted, when examples are quoted to prove
the existence of light humour in the Bible. It runs as follows: “Who hath
woe? who hath pain? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who
hath redness of the eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go
to seek mixed drinks. . . . Thine eyes shall behold strange things, and
thine heart shall utter nonsensical words. Yea, thou shalt be as one that
lieth down in the midst of the sea, as one that reposeth on the top of a
mast. Oh, how they have stricken me (thou shalt say), how they have beaten
me, and I felt not; when shall I awake? I shall yet seek it (the drink)
again.”
The greatest satirists among the minor prophets of the Bible were Hosea
and Amos, and their short orations abound in flashes of rich humour and
biting sarcasm. The former, for instance, when reproaching his people with
their faithlessness to their God and their king, remarks sarcastically:
“For now they say, We have no king; as we were not (even) afraid of God,
what can a (mortal) king do to us?” (Hos. x. 3). Whatever they did under
the pretension of honouring God was, in Hosea's opinion, nothing but
hypocrisy, for “although Israel has forgotten his maker, yet he _buildeth
temples_” (ibid. viii. 14). Those of his people, who fancied they would
obtain atonement for their sins by merely offering sacrifices, he derided,
saying: “They sacrifice _flesh_ for the sacrifices, and _eat_ it
(themselves)” (ibid. viii. 13).
On another occasion, Hosea ridicules certain persons who, like the
inhabitants of Samaria, worshipped the _calves_ of _Beth-aven_, though
they were otherwise not very anxious to uphold and respect the common
rights of man. And referring to them, he says with biting irony:
“Concerning them, one may (aptly) say, They slaughter _man_, but kiss the
_calves_” (ibid. xiii. 2)^[8-1]. Continuing to deride those credulous men,
who expect pardon for their sins by the offer of sacrifices, Hosea remarks
with crushing sarcasm: “I desire mercy, and not sacrifices; and the
knowledge of God, more than burnt offerings” (ibid. vi. 6)^[8-2].
One would have expected that the priests at least would set a good example
to the people; but they were as bad as the people themselves. “They were
_eating up_ the sin offerings of the people, and looked out even longingly
for their (the people's) iniquity” (ibid. iv. 8), so that they might
materially profit by it. Speaking of the king and the ruler of the people,
Hosea considered him not a bit better than his profligate courtiers, who
spent the greater part of the day in feasting and debauchery. There was
especially no end to their orgies at the celebration of the king's
birthday, and the same prophet described their behaviour on that day in
the following sarcastic terms: “It is our king's day! The princes are
already sick with the fever of wine; he himself (meaning the king)
stretches out his hands with the scoffers” (ibid. vii. 5).
Amos, too, makes a good many droll remarks on the follies and misdoings of
his people. Addressing the fat judges of the people of Samaria, who were
noted for their pompous gravity and effeminate habits, he calls them, most
appropriately, “kine of Bashan^[9-1].” These worthies were always thirsty;
and their constant cry when dealing with the poor was: “Provide for us
that we may have something to drink” (Amos iv. 1). The patricians of his
people followed the bad example of the judges. They lived an easy and
luxurious life, indifferent to the approaching common danger with which
they were threatened—the loss of their freedom and independence. Speaking
of them, Amos says bitterly: “Woe to them that put off the evil day, and
cause the seat of violence to come near, that lie upon beds of ivory, and
stretch themselves upon their couches; . . . that sing to the sound of the
harp; they invent for themselves instruments of music like David; that
drink wine out of bowls, and anoint themselves with the best ointments,
but are not grieved for the ruin of Joseph (Israel). Therefore now shall
they go _at the head_ of the captives” (ibid. vi. 4–7).
The hypocrites among his people, who, notwithstanding their dishonest
dealings with their neighbours, were exceedingly strict in their
observances of the holy seasons appointed by the Jewish law, were rebuked
by Amos in the following manner: “Hear ye,” he says, “that swallow up the
needy, and destroy the poor of the land, saying, When will the new moon be
over, that we may sell again corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth
wheat, making the _ephah small_ and the _shekel great_, and _falsifying_
the balances for _deceit_? That we may buy the poor for money, and the
needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell even the _refuse_ of the wheat?”
(ibid. viii. 4–6).
These quotations may have already sufficiently supported the argument
stated in the introduction to this essay concerning the existence of
genuine humour in the Bible. The following are intended to show that even
some of the most austere Biblical personages, such, for instance, as the
prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Moses himself, possessed a vein of light
humour, which they sometimes used with considerable effect.
Jeremiah addresses the hypocrites among his people in the following
caustic terms: “How, will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and
swear falsely, and burn incense, and walk after other gods whom you know
not; and (then) come and stand before me in this house, which is called by
my name, and say, We are _now delivered to do all these abominations_? Is
this _house_, which is called by my name, become a _den_ of _robbers_ in
your eyes?” (Jer. vii. 9).
He elsewhere recommends his people to try an experiment in the streets of
Jerusalem, which, by a curious coincidence, was once put into practice by
the Greek philosopher Diogenes, who went about the streets of Athens in
the daytime carrying a lighted lantern in his hand in search of a _perfect
man_, saying: “Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and
seek in the broad places thereof, if you can find a (perfect) man . . . if
there be any that seeketh the truth, and I shall pardon it” (ibid. v. 1).
The idols, the great plague of Judaea, also received at this great
prophet's hand their proper share of ridicule. He describes them with
genuine humour, as follows: “They are upright as the palm-tree, but speak
not; they must needs be _borne_, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of
them, for they cannot do any _evil_, neither can they effect any _good_”
(ibid. x. 5).
Of Ezekiel's humour no specimens can be given here. It is, like Swift's,
rather coarse, and not altogether palatable. The curious may be referred
to the sixteenth and twenty-third chapters of the Book of Ezekiel.
Moses, though of stern and austere disposition, is also sometimes fond of
indulging in ironical remarks with pleasing propriety. So, for instance,
when he once admonished his people to give the soil of their possession a
year of rest periodically, he gave them at the same time to understand
that unless they did so willingly, they would have to do it later on by
the force of circumstances. “When,” he says, “you shall be in your
enemies' land, _then_ shall the land _rest_ and enjoy her sabbath” (Lev.
xxvi. 34). And again: “Because thou didst not serve _the Lord thy God_
with joyfulness and with gladness of heart, while there was (around) an
abundance of all things; therefore shalt thou serve _thy enemies_, whom
the Lord shall send out against thee, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness,
and _in want of everything_” (Deut. xxviii. 47, 48). The messengers sent
out by Moses to search the land of Canaan are reported by him (Num. xiii.
32) to have given the following description of it: “It is,” they said, “a
land that _eateth up_ its own inhabitants,” a sufficiently ironical
definition.
In his last famous address to his people, which is commonly called his
swan-song, Moses recalled to their mind the happy days, when God led them
“as the eagle stirreth up his nest, fluttereth over his young, spreadeth
abroad his wings, seizeth them, beareth them aloft on his pinions” (Deut.
xxxii 11–13). But at the same time he foresaw with the far-seeing eye of a
prophet, that, as soon as they will have grown “_fat_, _thick_, and
_fleshy_” they would forsake the God of their fathers, and worship idols.
And, in consequence, he gives them God's divine message, which is couched
in the following sarcastic terms: “They have moved me to jealousy with
that which is _not God_ . . . and I will provoke them to anger by a roguish
nation” (ibid. xxxii. 21).
There are a good many more fragments of delightful humour to be found in
the Bible, which, for lack of space, must be omitted here. Yet a brief
reference should be made to some of the witty puns and plays on words
(_ludus verborum_, or _Wortspiele_) that occur in the same sacred volume.
In his well-known short poetical strain (comp. Book of Judges xv. 16),
Samson, the noted wit of the Bible, purposely uses, as it would seem, the
Hebrew term _Chamor_ (חמור), because it has two meanings, namely, an
_ass_ and a _heap_. The humour of the Hebrew lines in question will at
once be noticeable by the following rendering of them:—
With the jaw-bone of an ass
Have I plenteous asses slain:
Smitten thus it came to pass
Fell a thousand on the plain.
A good pun may also be detected in the word _Ro_pheïm (physicians) and
_Re_phaïm, which latter word signifies “corpses”; or in שׁפֵט “a judge,”
and טִפֵּשׁ, meaning “the stupid one.” Such and similar puns abound in
the Bible as well as in the Talmud, as, for instance, the phrase found in
the latter work: אֱכוֹל בָּצֵל וְשֵׁב בְּצֵל “Be satisfied with a _meal_
of _onions_, and enjoy living under the _shadow_ of thy own trees” (comp.
Talmud, _Babyl. Pesachim_, 114 _a_); but no further specimens can be given
here.
These remarks will, it is hoped, help to show the wealth of hidden meaning
contained in the Bible, which can only be detected by the study of the
original Hebrew text, and which the translators, either through oversight
or inability, have failed to reproduce.
Footnotes:
[3-1] The Hebrew term משקרות is probably derived from שקר, meaning
“false” or “deceiving.”
[6-1] Cp. Eccles. v. 11.
[8-1] Cp. Juvenal, _Satire_ 15:—
“A sheep or goat they may not eat, but human flesh they may.”
[8-2] Cp. Horace, _Carm._ iii. 23. 17:—
Immunis aram si tetigit manus,
Non sumptuosa blandior hostia
Mollivit aversos Penates
Farre pio et saliente mica.
[9-1] Cp. Amos iv. 1.