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Related to Are there any jokes in the torah?, what puns exist in Tanach?

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Close and merge into the other? Every possible answer here can be an answer there also (though not vice versa). (See also meta.judaism.stackexchange.com/q/959.) – msh210♦ Oct 24 '12 at 4:11
I think the types of humor are distinct enough for separate questions, but I won’t object if others disagree & want to merge. – J. C. Salomon Oct 24 '12 at 17:20

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The Ibn Ezra, in his commentary to Bereishis 2:25, gives the following examples:

Bereishis 2:25-3:1:

כה וַיִּהְיוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם עֲרוּמִּים, הָאָדָם וְאִשְׁתּוֹ; וְלֹא, יִתְבֹּשָׁשׁוּ.

א וְהַנָּחָשׁ, הָיָה עָרוּם, מִכֹּל חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה, אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים; וַיֹּאמֶר, אֶל-הָאִשָּׁה, אַף כִּי-אָמַר אֱלֹהִים, לֹא תֹאכְלוּ מִכֹּל עֵץ הַגָּן.

One means "naked," and one means "cunning."

Shoftim 15:16:

טז וַיֹּאמֶר שִׁמְשׁוֹן--בִּלְחִי הַחֲמוֹר, חֲמוֹר חֲמֹרָתָיִם; בִּלְחִי הַחֲמוֹר, הִכֵּיתִי אֶלֶף אִישׁ.

One means "donkey," and one means "many heaps."

10:4

ד וַיְהִי-לוֹ שְׁלֹשִׁים בָּנִים, רֹכְבִים עַל-שְׁלֹשִׁים עֲיָרִים, וּשְׁלֹשִׁים עֲיָרִים, לָהֶם; לָהֶם יִקְרְאוּ חַוֹּת יָאִיר, עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה, אֲשֶׁר, בְּאֶרֶץ הַגִּלְעָד.

One means "donkeys" and one means "cities."

He also asserts in his commentary to Shemos 22:5 that this is another example of a pun:

ד כִּי יַבְעֶר־אִישׁ שָׂדֶה אוֹ־כֶרֶם וְשִׁלַּח אֶת־בְּעִירֹה וּבִעֵר בִּשְׂדֵה אַחֵר מֵיטַב שָׂדֵהוּ וּמֵיטַב כַּרְמוֹ יְשַׁלֵּֽם׃
ה כִּֽי־תֵצֵא אֵשׁ וּמָֽצְאָה קֹצִים וְנֶֽאֱכַל גָּדִישׁ אוֹ הַקָּמָה אוֹ הַשָּׂדֶה שַׁלֵּם יְשַׁלֵּם הַמַּבְעִר אֶת־הַבְּעֵרָֽה׃

In the first verse, they all are related to the word "animal," while in the second it refers to fire.

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Nice! I can’t believe I completely forgot about ‘arum in Bereishis. – J. C. Salomon Oct 24 '12 at 1:41
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Here are two of my favorite:

Bamidbar 24:10–11: והנה ברכת ברך זה שלש פעמים׃ ועתה ברח־לך אל־מקומך; you have continually blessed (barekh) them three times. Now flee (b’raḥ) to your place.

Devarim 11:16–17: ועבדתם אלהים אחרים … ואבדתם מהרה; lest you serve (va‘avadtem) strange gods … you will quickly be banished (va’avadtem).

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These are only puns for people who don't pronounce Hebrew properly. The original speakers of those lines as well as the first readers of the text were certainly not in that category. – Double AA♦ Oct 23 '12 at 19:58
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Puns exist when pronunciations are similar, not only when they’re identical. – J. C. Salomon Oct 23 '12 at 20:19
True, but I think our notion of what sounds are similar may be somewhat skewed. ח is probably much closer to ה than to כ. – Double AA♦ Oct 23 '12 at 20:42
Note that ח and כ are classically considered to be pronounced by different parts of the mouth (unlike e.g. ע and א). Anyway, any evidence these were intended as puns? – msh210♦ Oct 24 '12 at 2:31
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This article, by Professor Gary Rendsburg of Cornell University, provides a number of examples of puns (some of them bilingual) from throughout Tanakh. As you can see from the final page, it is an article within a collection that deals explicitly with this issue.

My personal favourite from the ones that he cites, and he cites many, is a Hebrew/Greek bilingual pun in Proverbs 31:27. Rather than say צופה הליכות ביתה ("she watches over the ways of her household"), a more unusual form of the verb, צופיה, is used, and one which allows the author to pun on the Greek word for wisdom (sofia).

Most importantly, the article is replete with references to other texts (many of them by the same author, though not all of them), which explore other more specific examples of biblical Hebrew wordplay.

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For those wondering, the word σοφίης (~sophias) shows up in the Iliad 15:412, which is (roughly, +-200 years) around the time of Shlomo. So it isn't at all unreasonable that he would know the word. – Double AA♦ Feb 5 at 6:21
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What of Bereishit 29:10 and 11?
וַיַּשְׁקְ, אֶת-צֹאן לָבָן אֲחִי אִמּוֹ. וַיִּשַּׁק יַעֲקֹב, לְרָחֵל And he watered the sheep of Lavan, his uncle. And Jacob kissed Rachel

The verbs here are very similar (only the vowels change). This makes it both a pun and a trap for bad baalei kriah.

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This reminds me of the almond/diligent play on words in Jeremiah 1:11/12. – A Blue Thread Feb 6 at 0:28

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