{"id":26408,"date":"2025-11-06T07:00:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T12:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/?p=26408"},"modified":"2025-11-06T08:16:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T13:16:13","slug":"laughter-in-the-bible-absolutely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/daily\/biblical-topics\/bible-interpretation\/laughter-in-the-bible-absolutely\/","title":{"rendered":"Laughter in the Bible? Absolutely!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lighten up! Laughter is an important, and often overlooked, literary element in the Bible. Perhaps Vincent Van Gogh’s Still Life with Bible<\/em> could have used more pigments from his floral paintings? Photo: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam\/Vincent van Gogh Foundation.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u2014Proverbs 14:10<\/p>\n

\u201cA cheerful heart is a good medicine.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u2014Proverbs 17:22<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I remember one day resolving to do arduous work in 2 Chronicles. Studiously plowing through the reigns of Solomon<\/a> through Jehoshaphat, I came to 2 Chronicles 21:20 and laughed outright. The text reads, \u201cJehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He passed away, to no one\u2019s regret<\/em>, and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings\u201d (italics added). Being a wordsmith myself, I smiled at this bygone scribe relieved at this monarch\u2019s death. Evidently Jehoram was not well liked. The editorial statement provides a light touch\u2014comic relief, if you will\u2014to the Chronicler\u2019s usually routine kingship formula.<\/p>\n

As I study and teach, I find I read the Bible ever more slowly, and as I do, I smile more and more frequently. I listen for its humor. My emotions span sorrow, understanding or joy as I empathize with the characters who cross its pages. I chuckle at many passages, even while acknowledging the sadness they may contain. Consequently, I believe it\u2019s possible to read many verses, stories and even books through the lens of humor, indeed to see portions of the Bible as intended to be very funny. An appropriate response is laughter. I\u2019ve come to this conclusion: Humor is a fundamental sub-theme in both testaments.<\/p>\n

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Laughter in the Hebrew Bible<\/h3>\n

Let\u2019s start with an umbrella verse, Ecclesiastes 3:4: \u201cA time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.\u201d The Biblical text, always practical, acknowledges human emotions and makes boundaries for their proper use.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s Laughter in the Hebrew Bible<\/h4>\n

Let\u2019s look at God\u2019s laughter. After all, he\u2019s the creator.<\/p>\n

Consider Psalm<\/a> 37:12-13: \u201cThe wicked plot against the righteous, and gnash their teeth at them; but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that their day is coming.\u201d Laughter here shows the impotence of the wicked and the futility of their plots and gnashings against the righteous. Why? Because, as the psalm answers, those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land and the Lord knows the wicked face a reckoning.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>God directs the same kind of laughter toward earthly hotshots who think their power exceeds his. Psalm 2:2, 4 declares that when \u201cthe kings of the earth take their stand,\u201d marshalling themselves \u201cagainst the Lord \u2026 and against his Anointed One,\u201d then \u201cthe One enthroned in heaven laughs.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Zephaniah 3:17 illustrates joy, a different aspect of God\u2019s laughter and character, one more consistently expressed throughout the Biblical text: \u201cHe will take great delight in you \u2026 he will rejoice over you with singing.\u201d My students often are amazed that the idea of rejoicing carries with it the idea of physical activity. The verse presents this possibility: God\u2019s delight can entail joyful songs and public dancing.<\/p>\n

Who Is Responsible?<\/h4>\n

One story that makes me laugh is the conversation taking place somewhere on Mt. Sinai<\/a> between God and Moses<\/a>. The recently-released Hebrew slaves<\/a> are sinning by worshipping a calf made of gold and declaring that it, not the Lord, led them out of Egypt (Exodus 32:4-6). Neither God nor Moses wants these rowdies at this moment. Like a hot potato, responsibility for the former slaves passes back and forth between them.<\/p>\n

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Robin Gallaher Branch has written several Bible History Daily<\/em>-exclusive character studies. Read her commentary on Judith<\/strong><\/a>, Barnabas<\/strong><\/a>, Anna<\/strong><\/a> and Tabitha<\/strong><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

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The Lord swaps first, telling Moses the reveling Israelites are \u201cyour<\/em> people\u201d (v. 7) (italics added). But Moses quickly catches on. He declines association with them. As far as Moses is concerned, these people are not his! Morphing into intercession mode and speaking in what no doubt is a respectful tone, Moses rejoins, \u201cO, Lord, why should your anger burn against your people<\/em>, whom you<\/em> brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?\u201d (v. 11) (italics added). He reminds the Lord of his promise to his servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel to make their descendants \u201cas numerous as the stars in the sky\u201d (v. 13). This scene\u2019s humor softens the chapter, which ends sorrowfully. The Israelites\u2019 sin leads quickly to the deaths of many by plague, and thus the chapter ends (Exodus 32:35). The chapter\u2019s structure incorporates dialogue, rebellion, crisis, and punishment.<\/p>\n

Biblical Humor Through Innuendo<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a>Consider Genesis 18:10-15, wherein God informs Abraham and Sarah they will have a son by \u201cthis time next year\u201d (v. 10). Sarah openly laughs, thinking she is worn out and now will have sexual pleasure again (v. 11). After all, she is about 89! We learn later that Abraham, probably about 99, also thought along sexual lines. He believed God could give him and Sarah descendants and make them parents even though he\u2014as a man\u2014was \u201cas good as dead\u201d (Hebrews 11:11-12). The idea of fathering a child at his age struck him as funny.<\/p>\n

Humorous Books in the Hebrew Bible<\/h4>\n

Whole books in the Hebrew Bible have strong elements of humor. An ongoing humorous element in the Book of Esther is the number of banquets it mentions. They number at least 10, thereby forming the book\u2019s structure and carrying much of its action. One wonders: Do these rulers do anything except dine and wine and plot and whine?<\/p>\n

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