"He who does not tremble at the sword,
Who quails not with his head upon the block,
Turn but a jest against him, loses heart;
The shafts of wit slip thro' the stoutest mail.
There is no man alive that can live down
The inextinguishable laughter of mankind."
With this fact the writers of the Bible were quite as well acquainted as
are the writers of modern times. They took advantage of it for the same
purpose.
"Of this we may be sure," says Hazlitt, "that ridicule fastens on the
vulnerable points of a cause, and finds out the weak sides of an argument;
if those who resort to it sometimes rely too much on its success, those
who are chiefly annoyed by it almost always are so with reason, and can
not be too much upon their guard against deserving it."
Into hearts impervious to all else, the writers of the Bible drove the
javelins of ridicule.
_The Sluggard._
If anything could make a lazy man feel uncomfortable, it would be such
thorns as those Solomon has planted in his pillow:--
"I went by the field of the slothful,
And by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
And lo! it was all grown over with thorns,
The face thereof was covered with nettles,
And the stone wall thereof was broken down.
Then I beheld and considered well,
I saw and received instruction:
'A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep.'
So shall thy poverty come as a robber,
And thy want as an armed man.
* * * * *
How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard,
When wilt thou rouse thee out of thy sleep?"
_The Unfaithful Friend._
If anything could make an unfaithful and deceitful friend, one who
professes much in times of prosperity and performs nothing in times of
need, ashamed of himself, it would be such a comparison as we find in the
book of Job:--
"My brethren are deceitful, like the brook
As the channel of brooks that pass away,
They become turbid from ice,
The snow hides itself in them.
At the time they are poured off, they fail;
When it is hot they are consumed from their place.
The caravans along their way turn aside;
They go up into the wastes and perish.
The caravans of Tema looked,
The companies of Sheba hoped for them;
They were ashamed that they had trusted,
They came thither and were confounded."
The friends of Job were like streams in the early spring, when melting ice
and snow filled their channels, and the waters were not needed; but in
the heat of summer, when fainting caravans looked for refreshment, dry and
dusty.
_The Drunkard._
If anything could move a drunkard to forswear his cups and lead a sober
life, it would be such a sarcastic description of him as that which
follows:--
"Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath contention?
Who hath complaining? Who hath wounds without cause?
Who hath redness of eyes?
They that tarry long at the wine,
They that go to try mixed wine.
* * * * *
Thine eyes shall behold strange things,
And thy heart shall utter froward things,
Yea thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea,
Or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast."
The poem closes with a terrible thrust. After the folly of the drunkard
has been described, his physical and mental condition pointed out--the red
eyes, the strange things seen in delirium, the incoherent babbling, the
unsteady gait, the surrounding perils,--the devotee of strong drink is
made to exclaim, "_When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again!_" Knowing
its effects, suffering in mind and body from his potations, such is the
incorrigible stupidity of the wine-bibber that he no sooner wakens from
his drunken slumber than he goes forth to seek again the source of his
wretchedness!
_The Idolater._
Nowhere is the use of ridicule by the writers of the Old Testament
displayed to better advantage than in their treatment of idolatry. Against
this sin they brought to bear the most potent weapons of their wit. None
of the resources of expression were left untried. Witness the withering
irony with which Elijah mocked the frantic priests of Baal: "And it came
to pass that at noon Elijah mocked them and said, Cry aloud, for he is a
god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or
peradventure he sleepeth and must be awaked." No finer bit of irony can
be found in any literature. Indeed, we may regard it as the most perfect
specimen extant of this species of wit.
Jeremiah exclaims, "As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the
house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes and their
priests, and their prophets, _saying to a stock, Thou art my father, and
to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth_."
The Psalmist thus speaks of the gods of the heathen:
"They have mouths, but they speak not;
Eyes have they, but they see not;
Noses have they, but they smell not;
They have hands, but they handle not;
Feet have they, but they walk not;
Neither speak they thro' their throat."
Having thus described the senselessness and impotence of the gods of the
heathen, he adds:
"They that make them are like unto them,
So is everyone that trusteth in them."
In a similar vein Jeremiah ridicules the idols: "For the customs of the
people are vain; for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the
hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with
gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers that it move not. They
are upright as the palm tree, but speak not; they must needs be borne,
because they can not go. _Be not afraid of them; for they can not do evil,
neither also is it in them to do good._ * * * The stock is a doctrine of
vanities."
Isaiah satirizes the idolaters in this fashion: "They shall be turned
back, they shall be greatly ashamed that trust in graven images, they that
say to the molten images, Ye are our gods. Hear ye deaf, and look ye blind
that ye may see. Who is blind but my servant? or deaf as my messenger that
I sent? Who is blind as he that is perfect (in his own estimation), and
blind as is the Lord's servant? Seeing many things, but thou observest
not; opening the ears, but he heareth not. * * * Who among you will give
ear to this and hearken and hear for time to come?"
Ezekiel declares that, on account of their idolatries, the people have
become as worthless as a withered vine. Nothing useful can be made out of
it. It is only fit for the fire. "What is the vine tree more than any
tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? Shall wood
be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any
vessel thereon? Behold it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire
devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet
for any work? Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work; how much
less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it,
and it is burned? Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: As the vine tree
among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so
will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem."
There is an elaborate piece of sarcasm in the forty-fourth chapter of
Isaiah: "He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak
which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest; he
planteth an ash and the rain doth nourish it. Then shall it be for a man
to burn; for he will take thereof and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it
and baketh bread." The tree which this idolater takes has grown up as any
other tree, and after it is cut down, it is devoted to the same ordinary
uses. Yet out of that very tree, "he maketh a god and worshippeth it; he
maketh a graven image, and falleth down thereto."
The prophet repeats and amplifies, "He burneth part thereof in the fire;
with part thereof he eateth flesh, he roasteth roast and is satisfied;
yea, he warmeth himself and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire;
and the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image; he falleth
down unto it and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it and saith, Deliver
me, for thou art my God."
Then he concludes: "And none considereth in his heart, neither is there
knowledge nor understanding to say, _I have burned part of it in the fire;
yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh
and eaten it; and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? Shall I
fall down to the stock of a tree?_" The idolater does not see, does not
"consider" what an abject simpleton he is to make a god out of the same
material with which he bakes bread and roasts meat. It is as if the
prophet should say, "What sort of a god is that, O Israel, with which you
do your broiling and baking?"
Robert South comments on this passage: "With one part he furnishes his
chimney, with the other his chapel. A strange thing that the fire must
consume this part and burn incense to that! As if there were more divinity
in one end of the stick than in the other; or as if it could be painted
and graven omnipotent, or the nails and hammer could give it an
apotheosis."
The fatalistic excuse which the people make for their idolatries and other
sins, is thus disposed of by Jeremiah: "Behold ye trust in lying words
that can not profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear
falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye
know not; and come and stand before me in this house which is called by my
name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? Is this
house which is called by my name become a den of robbers in your eyes?"
_Refuges of Lies._
Isaiah charges the rulers of the people with forsaking the word of the
Lord, and substituting for his truth false maxims and iniquitous precepts.
They refuse to obey the divine commands, and lead their subjects also into
rebellion. They have adopted other rules of life than those delivered by
the prophets of Jehovah,--other national policy than that promulgated from
above. In their overweening pride and self-confidence, they look with
disdain upon the requirements of God. Isaiah represents them as saying,
"We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement;
when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto
us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid
ourselves." But the prophet warns them that their fancied security shall
be broken up. "Judgment also will I lay to the line and righteousness to
the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the
waters shall overflow the hiding-place. And your covenant with death
shall be disannuled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand. When
the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down
by it." He pauses a moment, after this strain of invective, and then
sarcastically describes the insufficiency of their refuges by another
figure, ludicrous enough, that of a man trying to stretch himself upon too
short a bed, and to cover himself with too narrow a blanket. "For the bed
is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it; and the covering
narrower than that he can wrap himself in it."
_False Prophets._
Ezekiel tells us that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, "Son of
Man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say unto
them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the Lord.
Thus saith the Lord God: Woe unto the foolish prophets that follow their
own spirit and have seen nothing. O Israel, thy prophets are like the
foxes in the desert. * * * They have seen vanity and lying divination,
saying, The Lord saith; and the Lord hath not sent them." These prophets
were endeavoring to soothe the people, to cover up their sins, to
dissipate their fears of retribution. "They have seduced my people,
saying, peace, when there is no peace." Then Ezekiel describes their work.
They are like foolish masons who build a wall with mortar that will not
hold the stones together,--"untempered mortar!" Can such work last? Can
such a structure stand? "Say unto them which daub it with untempered
mortar that it shall fall. There shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O
great hail-stones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it. Lo! when
the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing
wherewith ye have daubed it?" Did ye not boast of your mortar? Did ye not
promise the people that it would hold? Alas for you, O prophets! Alas for
your work! "The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it; to wit, the
prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see
visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord."
Most contemptuously does Isaiah speak of the false prophets: "The Lord
will cut off from Israel, head and tail, branch and root, in one day. The
ancient and honorable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies,
_he is the tail_."
_The King of Assyria._
Isaiah ridicules the high and mighty pretensions of the King of Assyria.
That monarch boasts of his achievements. He takes the credit of all to
himself. He wears the glory alone. "By the strength of my own hand, I have
done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent; and I have removed the bounds
of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the
inhabitants like a valiant man." Falstaff could not proclaim his own
prowess, in more bombastic style. "I am a rogue, if I were not at
half-sword with a dozen of them two hours together. I have 'scaped by
miracle: I am eight times thrust through the doublet; four through the
hose; my buckler cut through and through; my sword hacked like a handsaw.
I never dealt better since I was a man." Now let the Assyrian resume his
parable: "And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people; and
as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and
there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped."
Falstaff will match him again: "There is not a dangerous action can peep
out his head, but I am thrust upon it. Well, I can not last for ever; but
it was always yet the trick of our English nation, if they have a good
thing, to make it too common. * * * I would to God my name were not so
terrible to the enemy as it is!"
The prophet, after allowing the Assyrian to sound his brazen trumpet,
turns upon him, and sarcastically reminds him that he is simply a tool, a
rod, a staff, in the hands of the Lord, and that he has of himself
accomplished nothing: "_Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth
therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it?_
as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if
the staff should lift itself up as if it were no wood!"
_The King of Babylon._
One of the most powerful passages of invective in any literature is that
in which Isaiah pictures the fall of the King of Babylon.
He begins--"How hath the oppressor ceased!" Then he sets forth the joy of
the earth itself over the discomfiture of him who "smote the people in
wrath with a continual stroke." All creation is glad. "The whole earth is
at rest and is quiet; they break forth into singing. Yea, the fir-trees
rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid
down, no feller is come up against us." This is the state of things on
earth.
There is commotion in the lower world, there is mockery of the humiliated
monarch as he descends among the shades. "Hell from beneath is moved for
thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee, even
all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all
the kings of the nations."
The shadowy, ghostly company gather about the fallen potentate and taunt
him: "Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us? Thy
pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols; the worm is
spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from
heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground
which did weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will
ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will
be like the Most High! Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the
sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee and
consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble,
that did shake kingdoms, that made the world as a wilderness, and
destroyed the cities thereof?"
Then the prophet concludes: "All the kings of the nations, even all of
them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. But thou art cast out of
thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are
slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit,
as a carcass trodden under feet!"
It is truthfully remarked that "keen thrusts and tingling ironies will
rouse the slumbering, startle the stolid, shame the profligate, and set
the thoughtless to thinking. While it is true that ridicule is not the
test of truth, it is equally certain that it is only by ridicule that many
dull-witted and sin-steeped persons can be made to see and feel the truth.
It would be well for mankind in general, if all could be made to feel that
wickedness is as contemptible as it is hateful. There is a stupidity in
sin, a thick, rhinoceros skin of insensibility, which only the
feather-winged arrows of wit can pierce. Iniquity has a pachydermatous
hide, and can feel only when coals of fiery ridicule are laid upon its
back, and blown by the breath of laughter."