Wit and Humor of the Bible: A Literary Study

by Marion D. Shutter

Isaiah satirizes the idolaters in this fashion: “They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed that trust in graven images, they that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods. Hear ye deaf, and look ye blind that ye may see. Who is blind but my servant? or deaf as my messenger that I sent? Who is blind as he that is perfect (in his own estimation), and blind as is the Lord’s servant? Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not. * * * Who among you will give ear to this and hearken and hear for time to come?”

Ezekiel declares that, on account of their idolatries, the people have become as worthless as a withered vine. Nothing useful can be made out of it. It is only fit for the fire. “What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? Behold it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work? Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work; how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned? Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”

There is an elaborate piece of sarcasm in the forty-fourth chapter of Isaiah: “He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest; he planteth an ash and the rain doth nourish it. Then shall it be for a man to burn; for he will take thereof and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it and baketh bread.” The tree which this idolater takes has grown up as any other tree, and after it is cut down, it is devoted to the same ordinary uses. Yet out of that very tree, “he maketh a god and worshippeth it; he maketh a graven image, and falleth down thereto.”

The prophet repeats and amplifies, “He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh, he roasteth roast and is satisfied; yea, he warmeth himself and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire; and the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image; he falleth down unto it and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it and saith, Deliver me, for thou art my God.”

Then he concludes: “And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh and eaten it; and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? Shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?” The idolater does not see, does not “consider” what an abject simpleton he is to make a god out of the same material with which he bakes bread and roasts meat. It is as if the prophet should say, “What sort of a god is that, O Israel, with which you do your broiling and baking?”

Robert South comments on this passage: “With one part he furnishes his chimney, with the other his chapel. A strange thing that the fire must consume this part and burn incense to that! As if there were more divinity in one end of the stick than in the other; or as if it could be painted and graven omnipotent, or the nails and hammer could give it an apotheosis.”

The fatalistic excuse which the people make for their idolatries and other sins, is thus disposed of by Jeremiah: “Behold ye trust in lying words that can not profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; and come and stand before me in this house which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? Is this house which is called by my name become a den of robbers in your eyes?”

Refuges of Lies.

Isaiah charges the rulers of the people with forsaking the word of the Lord, and substituting for his truth false maxims and iniquitous precepts. They refuse to obey the divine commands, and lead their subjects also into rebellion. They have adopted other rules of life than those delivered by the prophets of Jehovah,—other national policy than that promulgated from above. In their overweening pride and self-confidence, they look with disdain upon the requirements of God. Isaiah represents them as saying, “We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves.” But the prophet warns them that their fancied security shall be broken up. “Judgment also will I lay to the line and righteousness to the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place. And your covenant with death shall be disannuled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.” He pauses a moment, after this strain of invective, and then sarcastically describes the insufficiency of their refuges by another figure, ludicrous enough, that of a man trying to stretch himself upon too short a bed, and to cover himself with too narrow a blanket. “For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it; and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.”