Humor in Scripture

• Genesis 19:14, Lot and his sons-in-law
• Genesis 21:6, Sarah laughs
• Numbers 22:27-28, the satire of Balaam and the donkey
• Judges 6:11-12, humorous situation of Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press
• 1 Kings 18:27, the sarcasm of Elijah mocking because the fake gods wouldn't awaken and perform acts
• Proverbs 17:22, "a cheerful heart is a good medicine"
• Proverbs 28:14-15, the satire of the lazy person
• Ecclesiastes 3:4, there is a "time to weep, and a time to laugh."
• Exodus 2:8-9, the irony of Pharaoh's daughter asks Moses' mother to nurse Moses for her after finding Moses
• Esther 7:10, the irony of hanging Haman on the gallows prepareed for Mordecai
• Job 12:2, the sarcasm of Job saying "no doubt you are the people, and the wisdom will die with you."
• Jonah 3:8, an exaggeration or hyperbole of humans and animals covered with sackcloth
• Matthew 7:3, the exaggeration or hyperbole of the statement "why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?"
• Matthew 23:24, the exaggeration or hyperbole of "You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

Reflections about Humor

Nature of humor

"The Bible does not contain a term for humor. This word derives from Latin, and refers to the ancient belief that the body contained four liquids, or `humors' (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile) that affected health and temperament. The present significance of the word — having an amusing or comic quality — dates from the late 16th century." 

What makes something humorous?

"Various theories have attempted to explain the nature of humor. The three main kinds are relief theory, superiority theory, and incongruity theory. Relief theory explains humor in sexual jokes and malicious jokes. These jokes represent a relaxation of social restraint, according to proponents of relief theory like Sigmund Freud. The superiority theory explains why mocking others is found by some to be humorous, and is sometimes found in the Bible. The story of Ehud and Eglon in Judg. 3:15-30, for example, mocks the Moabites by presenting their king as gluttonous and gullible and his guards as slow-witted." (From the Lexham Bible Dictionary, "Humor")

Theory of Humor

"The most promising theory of humor for understanding the Bible is the incongruity theory. This idea explains humor as the linking of disparate things in a fresh and sometimes disrupting way, and is the sort of humor we primarily find in the Bible: Sarah having a child as an old woman (Gen. 21:6-7), Mordecai, son of Jair, being honored by the king instead of Haman (Esth. 6:3-11), and a crucified man being hailed as the savior of the world (1 Cor 1:18)." (From the Lexham Bible Dictionary, "Humor")

Laughter and Sorrow

In Scripture, laughter is the music of both the merry and mournful soul. "Even in laughter the heart is sad, and the end of joy is grief" (Prov. 14:13). "Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of countenance the heart is made glad" (Eccles. 7:13). Other perceptive voices note this linkage as well: "Everything human is pathetic. The secret source of humor itself is not joy but sorrow. There is no humor in heaven" (Mark Twain). "There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt".(Erma Bombeck). "Laughter transforms pain — humor is sorrow's catalytic converter. It's the emotional process by which we're able to convert the dark substance of living into something that can be expelled like carbon dioxide" (Joe Fassler).

Humor as an Expression of Scorn

Humor, like laughter, can be positive and good-natured or negative and derisive (see Ps. 2:4, 37:13 for examples of God's scornful laughter, and Job 12:4, Psalm 52:6, and Matt, 9:24 for examples of humanity's scornful laughter). Freud believed that humor arose from disguised hostility — a refined form of aggression and hatred. Art Spiegelman writes, "Whenever I'm considering why something's funny or not, I always tell myself: find the victim. Humor is targeted. It may be aimed at an individual, at an institution, or the entire superstructure of rational thinking. But something is always being skewered."

Humor as a Gift of Grace

The New York Times notes: "Studies show that humor improves our health, helps us get along better with others and even makes us smarter. . . . Laughter literally loosens up our blood vessels, promoting healthy circulation, in a way similar to aerobic exercise. . . . In one famous humor study conducted by James Rotton at Florida International University, subjects who watched funny movies after surgery requested 25 percent less pain medication. Another study showed that watching an episode of Friends reduced anxiety three times as effectively as just sitting and resting. Subjects also performed better on cognitive tests, such as word-association problems, after reading funny jokes and watching videos of Robin Williams performing stand-up comedy."

Humor as a Rhetorical Device

Effective humor can be a useful device to establish connection between a preacher and congregation as well as to regain listeners' attention. At a deeper level, as humor functions by highlighting life's incongruities through surprise/misdirection and contradiction/paradox, it has the cognitive power to startle listeners into new awareness.