Language:
English
Year of publication:
2022
Titel der Quelle:
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
Angaben zur Quelle:
46,4 (2022) 460-479
Keywords:
Eglon,
;
Ehud
;
Bible. Criticism, interpretation, etc.
;
Wit and humor in the Bible
Abstract:
Judg. 3.12–30 details the assassination of King Eglon of Moab by the Benjaminite Ehud ben Gera. Many scholars insist that the story was originally meant to be funny, contending that the text casts Eglon (i.e. ‘Little Calf’) humorously as a slaughtered bovine. Indeed, some regard the text as ‘satire’, though there remains no consensus as to what, exactly, constitutes the butt of the joke. In this article, I argue that Eglon’s fat and Ehud’s feigned oracle work together to form a comical critique of foreign rulers and their reliance on divination. The argument draws on Victor Raskin’s semantic theory of verbal humour along with a re-examination of fat on elite male bodies in the Hebrew Bible and the practice of ancient oracle giving, as reflected in cuneiform sources. I thus aim to elucidate ways the text would have registered as humorous and meaningful for an ancient West Asian audience.
DOI:
10.1177/03090892211061177
URL:
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