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Humour in the Bible: 8 Ruth: Ruth is from Moab, Boaz is from Bethlehem

May 14, 2011 1 comment

Who is that girl? Gustave Doré (1832-1883) from Wikimedia

Ruth is a lovely story, it’s humour is1 gentle and subtle. Part of the subtlety is that most (though not all) of the signs of humour are missing. However, I think we are intended to smile in at least two ways in the portrayal of the characters.

For this entry in the humour series I am repeating my podcast on chapter 2, where I think several of the signs are present, if subtly:

  • incongruity: found I’ll claim in the disparity of cultures between peasant farming Bethlehem and semi-nomadic herding Moab
  • lighthearted mood – it’s harvest time and there’s a meal
  • surprise – Ruth “happens” on the field of a suitable husband
  • ingenuity (cleverness is often a mark of humour think of puns) – if it’s present it is in Ruth’s possible playing with words for servanthood, but that’s too technical for this post ;)
  • inferiority – Ruth is a foreign, young, woman; Boaz is a wealthy, older, man
  • “inelasticity” (following Bergson) – does Boaz’ slight pomposity count?
  • human pretension revealed in all its lack of glory! – not at all present :)
  • hyperbole – not present, except perhaps in the quantity of grain Ruth gleans

The other candidate is the use of direct speech to characterise, and since it is even less overt I’ll just point to the file for those who want to listen: Anyway here’s my candidate for humour in Ruth: Direct speech in biblical narratives

So, here’s the link to the audio: Ruth is from Moab, Boaz is from Bethlehem

  1. Chapter three is a possible exception  – and the humour there, if there is humour, is disguised and sexual, so very difficult to spot with confidence across cultures! [↩]
Context, Humour, Reading, Ruth none

Aagh technical difficulties

May 14, 2011 1 comment

I had to reinstall all the posts here from a backup. Now the little audio player that allowed you to play the files on the page (rather than downloading them) is broken. To do it another way means manually editing over 200 posts :( Can anyone help?

Uncategorized none

Would a rose smell as sweet? What’s in a name? Genesis 22

May 12, 2011 3 comments

Rembrandt (1606–1669) Sacrifice of Isaac (Wikimedia)

Usually I try to present the ideas in these podcasts so that anyone can understand. However, this time if you cannot read Scripture except in translation and you have not learned to use an interlinear or computer Bible to get beyond that handicap, this podcast may be less accessible.

It deals with the naming of God, in one of the most challenging and difficult stories in the Bible, the near-sacrifice (or binding) of Isaac.

An unheard of second warning, in this podcast I don’t reach any conclusions, I either leave that to you, or you will have to wait till I am inspired to make a follow-up ‘cast ;)

So, here’s the link to the audio: Would a rose smell as sweet? What’s in a name? Genesis 22

characterisation, Genesis, Humour, Narrative , , , , ,

Humour in the Bible Book 7 Judges: Gender Bending

May 2, 2011 No comments

Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, was a military general in the Book of Judges in the Bible. "Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum" Published by Guillaume Rouille (1518?-1589) Wikimedia

Judges is one Bible book where it has been common to recognise humour. Ehud killing the fat and oppressive king Eglon in the toilet has been a popular example, though  I’ll pretty much leave the scatology to David and others who appreciate it ;)

I’d rather focus on gender.

In Judges relationships between men and women are either funny or horrible.

The story of Deborah (Judges 4) may provide examples, but the humour in the poem (Judges 5) is much clearer. It shows all nine of my diagnostic signs of humour. And develops some powerful (and this being Judges disturbing) gender bending humour. Though after the harsh laughs of the role reversals it is with a pleasant smile that we notice the delight Sisera’s womenfolk take in their imagined looted finery with “divers colours of needlework on both sides” (Judges 5:30) with its gender stereotyping ;)
So, here’s the link to the audio:  Humour in the Bible Book 7 Judges: Gender Bending

Gender, Humour, Judges none

Humour in the Bible: Book 6 Joshua: Rahab and the bungling spies

May 1, 2011 No comments

Don Adams, as Maxwell Smart, holding the famous shoe phone. (Wikipedia)

The little story, in Joshua 2, of Rahab and the clueless pair of young Israelite would be spies, provided Spenser1  (see Signs of humour: especially in written texts across cultures) with a nice example of several of his criteria all together in one text, making it evidently humorous.

What do you think? Do the criteria work? Or is this vignette deadly serious?

So, here’s the link to the audio:
Humour in the Bible: Book 6 Joshua: Rahab and the bungling spies

  1. F. Scott Spencer “Those Riotous – Yet Righteous – Foremothers of Jesus: Exploring Matthew’s Comic Genealogy.” In Are we amused?: humour about women in the biblical worlds, edited by Athalya Brenner, 7-30. Continuum, 2003 [↩]
Humour, Joshua none

Signs of humour: especially in written texts across cultures

April 30, 2011 5 comments

Photo by jaaron

David Ker, in one of the posts that stimulated this series, poses the serious and significant question: given the cultural gulf that separates us from the authors of Scripture how can we be sure something we see as funny tickled ancient Hebrew funny bones?

Spotting humour is easier in speech than writing, and spotting humour is difficult across cultures. Anyone who has worked in a different culture knows how people’s “sense of humour” is to a considerable extent culturally determined.

There’s a whole academic discipline studying such questions, and several biblical scholars have put these studies to work. For we have such a cross-cultural written case everytime we think something in Scripture is funny!

In his paper F. Scott Spencer “Those Riotous – Yet Righteous – Foremothers of Jesus: Exploring Matthew’s Comic Genealogy.” In Are we amused?: humour about women in the biblical worlds, edited by Athalya Brenner, 7-30. Continuum, 2003, lists some attempts to approach such questions and arrives at a list of clues that humour is present. I have modified his list:

  • incongruity
  • lighthearted mood
  • surprise
  • ingenuity (cleverness is often a mark of humour think of puns)
  • inferiority
  • disguise or something or someone pretending to be something else
  • “inelasticity” (following Bergson)
  • human pretension revealed in all its lack of glory!

So, here’s the link to the audio: Signs of humour: especially in written texts across cultures

Context, Culture, Humour none

5 minute talks on each of the E100 readings

April 29, 2011 No comments

Although all my talks on the E100 readings should be listed here (in roughly reverse  order) the listing here is much more convenient:
E100 reflections on each reading

E100 none

E100-69: John 20:1 – 21:25: The Resurrection

April 24, 2011 No comments

Fish and bread (no, the bread is nothing at all like Jesus' bread, which was fresh and wholemeal ;)

In this podcast I’ll introduce the idea of the ending of John as a sphragis, and very briefly mention what that might mean for reading John’s gospel, but most of the time will be spent on the much less technical question of why I am convinced that Jesus rose from death and met with the disciples – because after all this passage is about the resurrection, and not about the technical details (however fascinating to biblical scholars ;)

So, here’s the link to the audio: E100-69: John 20:1 – 21:25: The Resurrection

E100, Jesus, John , ,

E100-68: John 19:1 – 19:42: The Crucifixion

April 22, 2011 No comments

Photo by firstbaptistnashville

This chapter gives what it tells us is an eyewitness account of a Roman execution. Jesus, who has done no real wrong, except offend the religious leaders, and worry the politicians is subjested to the casual brutality of an imperial production-line death. Such a death, of an innocent man, is shocking. But Jesus was not merely a man, this was also the death of God, so as Jesus points out to the Roman govenor, Pilate, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you” John 19:11 such a death overturns all expectations, gods are powerful, vengeful, gods are kindly and helpful… gods do not die so that humans may live!

So, here’s the link to the audio:
E100-68: John 19:1 – 19:42: The Crucifixion

CHRIST – DEATH
The fourth vertical window on the north side depicts the death of Christ. It is a dramatic, powerful, eerie and gruesome composition recording the most momentous event in history. Dark grays in the upper portion represent the actual darkness that invaded the cross where Christ died. The streams of red tell of the great suffering and sacrifice of our Savior. The gold around the cross and throughout the window symbolizes the presence of God in the death of Christ.

E100, Jesus, John , , ,

E100-67: John 18:1 – 40: Jesus secret and three betrayals

April 21, 2011 No comments

Judas betrays Jesus by vaticanus

In this chapter, we get the climax of John’s series of sayings where Jesus echoes the divine “I am” cf. Exodus 3 (E100-17: Exodus 3-4: Getting the holy between your toes!), and we also notice how amid powerful people who seem muddled and out of control, Jesus (the one who seems to be the victim) is the only person in control of himself! And we’ll discover his secret.

We’ll also notice the three betrayals, and ask how we can avoid joining they betrayers.

So, here’s the link to the audio:

E100-67: John 18:1 – 40: Jesus secret and three betrayals

E100, Jesus, John , , ,
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