A good pun may also be detected in the word Ropheïm (physicians) and Rephaïm, which latter word signifies “corpses”; or in שׁפֵט “a judge,” and טִפֵּשׁ, meaning “the stupid one.” Such and similar puns abound in the Bible as well as in the Talmud, as, for instance, the phrase found in the latter work: אֱכוֹל בָּצֵל וְשֵׁב בְּצֵל “Be satisfied with a meal of onions, and enjoy living under the shadow of thy own trees” (comp. Talmud, Babyl. Pesachim, 114 a); but no further specimens can be given here.
These remarks will, it is hoped, help to show the wealth of hidden meaning contained in the Bible, which can only be detected by the study of the original Hebrew text, and which the translators, either through oversight or inability, have failed to reproduce.
Footnotes:
[3-1] The Hebrew term משקרות is probably derived from שקר, meaning “false” or “deceiving.”
[6-1] Cp. Eccles. v. 11.
[8-1] Cp. Juvenal, Satire 15:—
“A sheep or goat they may not eat, but human flesh they may.”