Are there any jokes in Tanach?

Question

Are there any examples of actual jokes in Tanach? Please provide sources.

An angel, an angel and an angel walk into a tent. One says to the host: "Your wife is going to have a kid!" Hahahahahaha — Double AA, Commented Oct 21, 2012 at 16:35
At my shul growing up once Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan came to speak. One of the congregants asked him after davening, "Rabbi, are there any jokes in the torah?" Without blinking he said, "Yes, but they're all old." — not-allowed to change my name, Commented Oct 21, 2012 at 19:11

alicht · Accepted Answer · 2019-05-31 06:05:32Z

43

In the Haftorah of Parshas Ki Sisa (Malachim Aleph 18:20-39) when Eliyahu is on Har HaCarmel and he is waiting for the priests of Baal, he watches them as they pray to their god to rain fire upon their sacrifice. When none is forthcoming, Eliyahu tells them (18:27)

"Call with a loud voice, for he is a god. [Perhaps] he is talking or he is pursuing [enemies] or he is on a journey; perhaps he is sleeping and will awaken".

I have always been under the impression that Eliyahu was poking fun at them rather than suggesting a real option. So perhaps Eliyahu we see at least had a sense of humor. (Although I'll wager that the priests of Baal didnt find it half as funny!!!)

edited May 31, 2019 at 6:05

alicht

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answered Oct 22, 2012 at 12:54

Yehuda

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And "he is on a journey" is literally "the path is to him", which many interpret as "he's in the bathroom!"
– Shalom
Commented Oct 22, 2012 at 20:29
Some says that Baal may refer to hercules. Hercules is often on journey.
– user4951
Commented Sep 23, 2013 at 13:48
@user4951 That’s a bit anachronistic. Greek culture didn’t really form until quite some time after this incident; I find it hard to believe that Ba’al could be a Greek god.
– DonielF
Commented May 31, 2019 at 12:38

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Renato S. Grun · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-21 16:49:14Z

There is an excellent book by Yehuda Radday and Athalya Brenner, entitled On Humor and the Comic in the Hebrew Bible (JSOTS Series; Continuum International Publishing Group, 1990). I don't have a copy on hand, so I cannot provide you with the relevant page numbers, but the sorts of issues that they explore are whether or not, and to what extent, Jonah is a parody and Esther is a parody, whether or not there is scatological humour in such passages as Ehud's assassination of the fat Moabite king, and so on. For passages within the Torah in particular, I seem to remember them mentioning situational humour (such as when Pharaoh's magicians demonstrate their prowess by making the plagues worse), and puns. That last one is important, since it underscores the fact that humour isn't necessarily that which makes you laugh.

To my mind, the most beautiful example is one found outside of the Torah, in the book of Samuel. When we meet Saul, we are told that he is exceptionally handsome and very tall. On his way to find the seer, Samuel, he encounters a group of young girls drawing water from a well. (Almost every book I've ever seen on the Hebrew Bible as literature mentions the trope of 'boy meets girl at well'). When Saul asks them about the location of the seer, they respond with the most syntactically awkward conglomeration of phrases, anticipating and repeating one another in confusion. Rather than suppose that we are looking at a corrupted text (as some have, historically, supposed), it makes greater sense to suggest that the author is representing the sound of a group of young girls speaking over one another in order to answer the handsome stranger.

For the Torah in particular, one of my favourite examples (and one not mentioned in Radday and Brenner's book) is the response of Cain to his punishment. He is already singled out as being arrogant (his statement in 4:13 can be read as both an expression of anguish and a rhetorical question: "Is my crime too great to be forgiven!?"), so it is unsurprising that after being condemned to a life of vagrancy he goes and settles himself elsewhere and founds a city.

The specific punishment that God gave him was that he be "נע ונד" (a wanderer and a vagabond) upon the earth - 4:12. Both of those words are participles, which means that they can be read as verbs (wander, move back and forth) or as nouns (one who wanders, etc). The land in which Cain settles himself after receiving this punishment is Nod - formed off the participle of נד! In other words, it would be like somebody being told they must be "a wanderer", so settling in a land called "Wander".

As to whether or not these are viable examples, and as to whether or not they reside in the minds of interpreters, you should look at Radday and Brenner's book. There is good evidence either way, and anybody who wishes to treat the Bible as literature needs to consider the sorts of difficulties inherent in ascertaining genre and intent, given the length of time between its composition and today, the foreignness of the culture that produced it, and the fact that it is written in a language that is no longer spoken.

Postscript

I was going to add a second answer, now that people are actually providing more in the way of specific examples, but I figured I'd add it to this one instead. This is an example of humour in Tanakh that I didn't mention - one that I personally find very funny, and which I think is continually mistranslated. It can be found in 1 Samuel 15:32-33, and constitutes the (rather grisly) execution of Agag, king of Amalek.

When Agag is brought before Samuel, his "famous last words" are to declare that, אכן סר מר המות. This is translated by JPS as "Ah, bitter death is at hand!" - although they note that the Hebrew is apparently uncertain. Artscroll, similarly, translates it as "Alas, the bitterness of death approaches", the NRSV has "Surely this is the bitterness of death", and so too several other translations.

Myself, I would read סר as a masc. sg. participle of סור ("turn aside"), its referent being מר המות. My translation, therefore, would render this as the hapless and ironic observation that "At least the bitterness of death has passed!" Agag, you couldn't be more wrong.

Just for those who haven't seen it -- the Samuel passage is I Samuel 9:12-13. In English it sounds something like this: Indeed he's ahead; hurry up now because he's arriving today because there's a sacrifice today for the people at the altar when you reach the city that's when you'll find him before he'll go the altar to eat, because the people won't eat until he arrives because he'll bless the sacrifice, after that the attendees will eat; and now go because today is when you'll find him! (You want to say "girls, stop and breathe!") — Shalom, Commented Oct 22, 2012 at 20:41
I had to fight myself not to insert some *like, totally OMG!*s in that quote. — Shalom, Commented Oct 22, 2012 at 20:42
Chazzal said they were only yapping that much so they could stare at his beauty. — user6591, Commented Dec 17, 2014 at 21:44
@user6591 different opinions in Chazal: to look at his beauty, or because it was not yet Shaul's time to be king, or because women are talkative — wfb, Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 16:29

Community · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-16 10:41:28Z

13

I know two:

I Shmuel 15:14:

וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל, וּמֶה קוֹל-הַצֹּאן הַזֶּה בְּאָזְנָי, וְקוֹל הַבָּקָר, אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי שֹׁמֵעַ

And Samuel said: 'What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?'

Shemot 4:2:

וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו יְהוָה, מזה (מַה-זֶּה) בְיָדֶךָ; וַיֹּאמֶר, מַטֶּה

And the LORD said unto him: 'What is that in thy hand?' And he said: 'A rod.'

edited Jun 16, 2020 at 10:41

CommunityBot

1

answered Oct 24, 2012 at 0:34

josh waxman

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2

I like the first one, but I tried unsuccessfully to figure out the second one. Could you explain it?
– b a
Commented Oct 24, 2012 at 0:51
8

Hashem tells Moshe that that is a Mazeh in his hand. And Moshe corrects Hashem and says, no, Mateh.
– josh waxman
Commented Oct 24, 2012 at 2:41
I think the second is a better fit for this question.
– Seth J
Commented Oct 24, 2012 at 3:23
4

@msh210 Someone did indeed
– Isaac Moses ♦
Commented Oct 24, 2012 at 21:00
1

So we have מזה and מטה. What happened to מחה? It got erased, of course.
– Scimonster
Commented Jan 5, 2018 at 10:13

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alicht · Accepted Answer · 2019-05-31 05:51:07Z

10

I've always thought that Yosef was making a joke when interpreting the baker's dream.

He first tells the butler:

ישא פרעה את ראשך
Pharaoh will "lift up your head"

meaning, restore him to his position.

He then tells the baker:

ישא פרעה את ראשך מעליך
Pharaoh will "lift up your head" from on you

an unusual way of saying he'll be hanged. Because of the similarity in wording, Yosef might have been teasing the baker a bit.

edited May 31, 2019 at 5:51

alicht

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answered Dec 17, 2014 at 21:25

Scimonster

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I have never doubted that the dual use of ישא פרעה את ראשך (Pharaoh will raise your head) is a word play. Very black humour to follow ישא פרעה את ראשך with מעליך for the baker -- Pharaoh will raise your head from you[r body]
– Edward B
Commented May 24 at 9:37

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Kielecki · Accepted Answer · 2017-01-30 15:23:30Z

6

Bereshit 11: men are building a BIG tower to reach heaven, Hashem hears about it and He has to come down to spot it, so minuscule it is.

answered Jan 30, 2017 at 15:23

Kielecki

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alicht · Accepted Answer · 2019-05-31 05:53:47Z

Adding to Shimon's answer, we need to consider the virtue of Jewish kvetching. In "Born to Kvetch", Yiddish expert Michael Wex asserts that a unique aspect of Jewish humor, the kvetch, roots in the Torah.

Regarding the nonstop grumbling of the Israelites:

They kvetch about their problems and they kvetch about the solutions. They kvetch in Egypt and they kvetch in the desert. No matter what God does, it's wrong; whatever favor He bestows, they're never enough.

So, for example, the Israelites are on the edge of the Red Sea, with Pharoah and his hosts closing fast behind them. God has been plaguing the Egyptians left and right and has just finished killing every one of their firstborn males. The Israelites are understandably nervous, but there's a big difference between being slightly apprehensive and insulting the agent of your deliverance: "And they said to Moses: 'What? There's no graves in Egypt, you had to take us into the desert to die. ...What did we tell you in Egypt? Get off our backs and let us serve the Egyptians, because serving the Egyptians is better than dying in the desert'" (Exod. 14:11-12).

This sort of thing constitutes what might be called the basic kvetch, the initial declaration of unhappiness that identifies the general area of complaint.

And then there's the counterkvetch:

The Jews want meat instead of the manna that they've been getting? Moses tells them: "God's going to give you meat and you're going to eat it. Not one day or two days; not five days or ten days or twenty days. But for a month you're going to eat it, until it's coming out of your noses" (Num. 11:19-20).

They get meat, all right--quails, hundreds and hundreds of quails--and for dessert they get a plague.

There are more examples in Wex's book, which centers around Yiddish language and culture. Hope that helps.

I think we can identify biblical kvetching these days with Jewish humor. Also, I think "until it's coming out of your noses" is pretty solid. They're not pesukim intended for laughter, but they can be read comically. — Aryeh, Commented Oct 22, 2012 at 17:43
I think part of the jokes of "is there no grave in egypt" is the idea that egypt is famous for its graves. Pyramids are graves, for example. They're effectively saying that the whole point of their deliverance is because because they are so pathetic they don't deserve graves like Pharaohs. — user4951, Commented Apr 16, 2014 at 11:12
I believe Rav Hirsch gives the המבלי אין קברים במצרים as the first example of black humor — wfb, Commented Apr 7, 2016 at 16:32

alicht · Accepted Answer · 2019-05-31 05:55:33Z

In I Samuel, 21:15-16 Achish the King of Gath jokes that there was no need to bring David, who appeared as a madman to the kings presence. He quips: 'Am I short on crazy people that you need bring this guy to me?'

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אָכִ֖ישׁ אֶל־עֲבָדָ֑יו הִנֵּ֤ה תִרְאוּ֙ אִ֣ישׁ מִשְׁתַּגֵּ֔עַ לָ֛מָּה תָּבִ֥יאוּ אֹת֖וֹ אֵלָֽי׃
טז חֲסַ֤ר מְשֻׁגָּעִים֙ אָ֔נִי כִּי־הֲבֵאתֶ֣ם אֶת־זֶ֔ה לְהִשְׁתַּגֵּ֖עַ עָלָ֑י הֲזֶ֖ה יָב֥וֹא אֶל־בֵּיתִֽי

alicht · Accepted Answer · 2019-05-31 06:08:29Z

The incident in Megillath Esther in which the king finds Haman pleading for his life to the queen and says: (Esther 7:8)

"What, and now you're trying to get at the queen while I'm still in the house?!"

(my own, modernized, rough translation) can probably be seen as a bit of dark humor on the part of the king.

I think it is pretty clear at that point that the king had lost confidence in Haman and had decided to have him killed. I also think it was unlikely that he seriously suspected that Haman was trying to either attack or seduce Esther in that instance.

Most likely he was just in a (drunken) rage and made the quip that turned out to be very damning, perhaps even more so than he intended it.

sam · Accepted Answer · 2019-05-31 03:15:46Z

3

The gemara in Sanhedrin 63b explains the pesukim in Yeashayhu 46:1-2 as a form of leitzanus (mockery,joke) of the avodah zarahas. The passuk makes fun of the idols as though they have uncontrollable bowel movements .

answered May 31, 2019 at 3:15

sam

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alicht · Accepted Answer · 2019-05-31 06:00:25Z

Elisha didn't tell jokes but at the start of Melachim II 7:1-2, a certain guard of King Jehoram thought he was:

History is that there was famine as Israel had been laid siege by Aram.

1 And Elisha said: ‘Hear ye the word of the L-RD; thus saith the L-RD: To-morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.’

2 Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of G-d, and said: ‘Behold, if the L-RD should make windows in heaven, might this thing be?’ And he said: ‘Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.’

This is from the haftarah we read for Parshat Metzora. They will not read it this year in Israel but we will outside of Israel.

LN6595 · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-07 16:23:38Z

If irony counts as humor, the Parshios of Yetzias Mitzrayim are full of irony. I have 2 verses corroborate what I'm saying:

The first verse is talking directly about the Exodus experience: אֲשֶׁר הִתְעַלַּלְתִּי בְּמִצְרַיִם That I made a mockery of Egypt Exodus 10:2

The 2nd verse is talking about Hashem's response to the nations that attack the Jews in the time of Mashiach, but I think it's fair to learn a parallel from it: יוֹשֵׁב בַּשָּׁמַיִם יִשְׂחָק אֲדֹנָי יִלְעַג לָמוֹ He Who dwells in Heaven laughs; the Lord mocks them. Tehillim 2:4

Now for the examples:

Pharaoh says to throw all the Israelite baby boys into the river in order to kill the future redeemer. Hashem causes Pharaoh to not only spare the one kid he's after, but actually adopt him and raise him as his own!

Pharaoh hurt the Jews through water in an attempt to outsmart God (see Rashi on "Hava nischakma lo"). His reasoning was that since Hashem promised never to bring another flood, He would be unable to punish him in a manner fitting the crime. Hashem says, sure, I won't bring a flood of water onto dry land - I'll cause you to run headlong into the sea and drown there!

alicht · Accepted Answer · 2019-05-31 05:56:45Z

Just before the 2 angels destroyed Sodom, they asked Lot if he has family members to escape with him.

Bereishis 19:14:

וַיֵּצֵא לוֹט וַיְדַבֵּר אֶל חֲתָנָיו לֹקְחֵי בְנֹתָיו וַיֹּאמֶר קוּמוּ צְּאוּ מִן הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה כִּי מַשְׁחִית יְהֹוָה אֶת הָעִיר וַיְהִי כִמְצַחֵק בְּעֵינֵי חֲתָנָיו:

So Lot went forth and spoke to his sons-in-law, the suitors of his daughters, and he said, "Arise, go forth from this place, for the Lord is destroying the city," but he seemed like a comedian in the eyes of his sons-in-law.

So if you picture the situation, you'd probably imagine those sons in law laughing their heads off at the thought that those 2 men (angels) would destroy those whole city just like that..

alicht · Accepted Answer · 2019-05-31 05:57:38Z

2

The Ten Plagues were a kind of joke as written (Exodus 10:2)

"and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your grandson, how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I performed My signs among them, that you may know that I am the LORD"

edited May 31, 2019 at 5:57

alicht

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answered Dec 18, 2014 at 18:43

ray

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alicht · Accepted Answer · 2019-05-31 05:58:28Z

I think that the answer that King Solomon gave to his mom with regard to his brother's request to obtain Abishag the Shunamite, speaks for itself about Shlomo's sense of humor, and sarcasm.