Is there humor in the Bible?

[Mister_Rik]

@Senegoid

Is humor, after all, a relatively modern invention?

I already pointed out, about three years ago, that the Sumerians invented the rap battle.

[rowrrbazzle]

@rowrrbazzle

How about wordplay?

Matthew 23:24 “You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.”

“Gnat” and “camel” in Aramaic are respectively “galma” and “gamal”, so there’s a bit of wordplay there.

I can’t find the reference now, but I believe there is another component to the statement that sharpens it. Apparently some Pharisees literally strained whatever they were drinking through cloth so they wouldn’t swallow gnats or other small insects, which are considered unclean as food. But camels are also unclean, so the metaphor is that they were avoiding tiny uncleanliness but accepting major uncleanliness.

I found the reference: The Method and Message of Jesus’ Teachings (revised edition) by Robert H. Stein (Westminster John Knox Press, 1994), page 13.

Google Books (in a short section on puns): The Method and Message of Jesus' Teachings - Robert H. Stein - Google Books

That contains a reference to note 14, given on page 156, which explains that camels are also unclean: The Method and Message of Jesus' Teachings - Robert H. Stein - Google Books