Humor in the Bible: What Has Isaac Done?

March 24, 2021March 28, 2021 ~ unofficialbible ~ 1 Comment

For Korean version, click here

Gen 26:6 So Isaac settled in Gerar. 7 When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister”; for he was afraid to say, “My wife,” thinking, “or else the men of the place might kill me for the sake of Rebekah, because she is attractive in appearance.” 8 When Isaac had been there a long time, King Abimelech of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw him fondling his wife Rebekah. 9 So Abimelech called for Isaac, and said, “So she is your wife! Why then did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought I might die because of her.” 10 Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11 So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall be put to death.”
NRSV

The Pentateuch contains stories similar or very much the same one another. An exemplary text might be the story of patriarchs lying about his wife as his sister. This story occurs three times in Gen 12, 20, 26, so it is a triplet rather than a doublet. From a perspective of the documentary hypothesis, it should be the result of combining three different sources. But there is an alternative way to understand this triplet. It seems possible to read the triplet as biblical humor, which one writer inserted. Here is why.

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Isaac’s Meditation, Wandering, and Humor in the Bible

February 4, 2021February 7, 2021 ~ unofficialbible ~ 1 Comment

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Gen 24:63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there were camels coming (RSV).

1. Isaac’s meditation

Isaac is Abraham’s legitimate heir from whom Israelite ancestor’s genealogy continues for generations. He was a miraculous baby as Abraham and Sarah had him at their very old ages, and he survived the critical situation, in which God designated him as an offering of a sacrifice. He is often described as an exemplar of obedience to God because he, obeying God’s order, went upon the altar despite that he could have brought old Abraham under his control.

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Who is Laban?

January 29, 2021February 2, 2021 ~ unofficialbible ~ 1 Comment

Laban’s prophecy (which is unexpected)

Rebekah’s brother, Laban, is often evaluated as “one who deceives and is deceived.” But if we see him from a different vantage point, an entirely different person emerges. (Korean version here)

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Rebekah in Nahor’s Genealogy

January 27, 2021February 3, 2021 ~ unofficialbible ~ 2 Comments

Traces of Editorial Hands in Genesis 22

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Gen 22:20 Now after these things it was told Abraham, “Milcah also has borne children, to your brother Nahor: ²¹ Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, ²² Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” ²³ Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.

Genesis 22:20-22 introduces Nahor’s eight sons to the reader, and v. 23 says, “These eight Milkah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.” This seems to conclude the genealogy. But in v. 24 the narrator continues to tell us four more sons born from Nahor’s concubine, indicating Nahor, like Jacob, became the father of twelve sons, or the ancestor of twelve tribes.

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