Christians rightfully revere the Bible. It is the “Good Book”; the “Word of God for the people of God.” We study the Bible, meditate on its words, and argue about the proper way to interpret the text. Sadly, our reverence for our sacred book often keeps us from enjoying the funny stuff. Students may chuckle at the racy parts of the Song of Solomon or guffaw when Balaam’s donkey opens its mouth to speak.

But biblical humor goes deeper than poetry that makes us blush or stories that seem absurd on their surface. Some Scriptures were (and are) meant to be funny and may have had their original audiences doing spit-takes. Others are funny to present-day audiences, if only because ancient people did and said a lot of funny things.

Either way, acknowledging the humor in the Bible can give life to a book that many young people view as stuffy and archaic. So, counting down from 12 to 1, are a handful of funny Scriptures that Christians can laugh at safely:

12. Ezekiel Eats a Scroll

He said to me, “Mortal, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it; and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey.” (Ezekiel 3:3)

Why It’s Funny

Through the prophet Jeremiah, God said, “I will put my law within [my people], and I will write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33). An emphasis on internalizing God’s law arose around the time of the Exile (especially since the destruction of the Temple compromised the people’s ability to observe the ritual aspects of the Law). To drive home this point, God told the prophet Ezekiel to literally internalize the law, thus laying the groundwork for countless puns about digesting God’s word and savoring the teachings of Scripture.

Why It’s Okay to Laugh

Because Ezekiel didn’t choke, nor did he die of ink poisoning. Often the Old Testament prophets had to become living metaphors for the sake of making God’s message known. Compared to marrying a prostitute (Hosea 1:2-3) or walking around naked for three years (Isaiah 20:1-6), eating a scroll is pretty painless.

11. Rhoda Forgets to Open the Door

When [Peter] knocked at the outer gate, a maid named Rhoda came to answer. On recognizing Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate. (Acts 12:13-14)

Why It’s Funny

King Herod Agrippa had recently imprisoned Peter. With the help of an angel, Peter miraculously escaped from his shackles and walked out of his cell unimpeded. But getting into a friend’s house, where others in the church are gathered, wasn’t proving nearly as easy as getting out of prison. When he knocked at the gate, Rhoda, the servant girl, answered. But she’s so excited that Peter escaped that she forgot to open the door. While Rhoda tried to convince others in the house, Peter, on the run from the law, stood at the gate hoping that someone would let him in. He probably twiddled his thumbs nervously.

Why It’s Okay to Laugh

No harm, no foul. Twenty-first century readers should go easy on poor Rhoda. Kathy Williams, an expert on humor in Acts, laments that Rhoda’s story is an example of how the Book of Acts “depicts women of the early Church as inept and ridiculously so.” She adds that Rhoda “appears flighty in her repeated attempts to communicate Peter’s presence to her mistress.”1 While Williams’ concerns are valid, I think we can laugh with Rhoda. We can joke about her goof while also commending her faith and enthusiasm. Rhoda had the faith to believe that Peter had made a miraculous escape, and Peter’s deliverance meant so much to her that she just had to tell others before anything else.

10. After Fishing Naked, Peter Gets Dressed—to Go Swimming

When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, because he was naked, and jumped into the sea. (John 21:7)

Why It’s Funny

“I can’t just impulsively dive into the lake. I need to put some clothes on first!” Inexact translation may be responsible for the humor in this Scripture. Peter may not have been literally naked; he may have been wearing a loincloth or a “loose-fitting work smock.”2 “Put on some clothes” might be translated “belted his outer garment.” So it’s possible that Peter was just wearing an open robe and that he simply tied the belt on his robe before jumping into the Sea of Tiberius. Still, the most common English translations suggest that Peter was fishing in the nude (funny) and got dressed to swim to the shore (also funny). Hollywood has earned millions of laughs from people jumping into water fully clothed.

Why It’s Okay to Laugh

Nudity is always funny, even if it involves the “rock” upon whom Jesus built his church. Regardless of whether Peter was tightening his belt or haphazardly covering his birthday suit, he jumped overboard and swam to the shore because he was giddy. He was giddy because the risen Christ was standing on the beach cooking breakfast. We should all be giddy about Peter’s giddy-ness.

9. Isaiah Walks around Naked for Three Years

Then the Lord said, “Just as my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years...so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians as captives and the Ethiopians as exiles...naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.” (Isaiah 20:3-4)

Why It’s Funny

Again, nudity is always funny. Adding to the hilarity of this Scripture is the fact that the nudity is divinely sanctioned. As a way of warning the leaders of Judah to not make alliances with Egypt or Ethiopia, God instructs the prophet Isaiah to spend three years naked and barefoot. (God knows how to make a point.)

Why It’s Okay to Laugh

God can’t tell a prophet to expose himself in public for three years and not expect to get some chuckles. Go ahead and get a laugh in now; you never know when God will ask you to do something equally embarrassing.

8. Nimrod

Cush became the father of Nimrod; he was the first on earth to become a mighty warrior. (Genesis 10:8)

Why It’s Funny

Because the first person to become a mighty warrior (the first human “on earth,” anyway) was named Nimrod. Actually, Bugs Bunny is responsible for the humor here. He used to mock Elmer Fudd (a would-be mighty hunter) by calling him “poor little Nimrod.” People not familiar with the biblical allusion assumed that “Nimrod” was synonymous with “doofus.”3

Why It’s Okay to Laugh

Scholars are unclear as to whether Nimrod’s being a “mighty hunter before the Lord” (10:9) is a good thing or a bad thing. At any rate, this brief mention of Nimrod is one of many examples of God’s attitude toward those who are mighty by human standards. Thanks to God, the Egyptian army was consumed by the Red Sea (Exodus 14:26-31), a shepherd boy’s sling brought down the Philistine giant (1 Samuel 17), and nearly 200,000 Assyrian soldiers mysteriously died before they could overtake Judah (2 Kings 19:35-37). In Nimrod’s case, God gave him a funny name. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

7. Dorcas

Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. (Acts 9:36)

Why It’s Funny

For the same reason that “Nimrod” is funny.

Why It’s Okay to Laugh

Dorcas: Funny name. Serious faith.           

Okay, maybe it’s best not to laugh at Dorcas. From the little we know about Dorcas, we have to assume that she was a good and faithful disciple and contributor to the early church. And returning from the dead in front of a crowd of people can’t be easy. On top of everything else, Dorcas, who lived in Joppa in Judea, probably spoke Aramaic and never went by Dorcas, the Greek rendering of her name. We probably should call her by her rightful name, Tabitha, rather than Dorcas. Still, there’s something funny about a disciple named Dorcas. Go ahead and laugh. Just laugh with reverence.

6. Jehu Drives Like a Maniac

Again the sentinel reported, “He reached them, but he is not coming back. It looks like the driving of Jehu son of Nimshi; for he drives like a maniac.” (2 Kings 9:20)

Why It’s Funny

Anachronism. Reading a 21st-century concept such as road rage into a text written in the sixth century B.C. about events that took place in the ninth century B.C. is funny. If the mayor of a major city were to decide one night to paint the town in his Mazda Miata, that wouldn’t be funny; it would be embarrassing. If, however, you change the mayor to an ancient Near Eastern king and change the Miata to a chariot, you have comedy gold.

Why It’s Okay to Laugh

Considering the Israelite and Judahite kings’ collective penchant for idolatry and backstabbing, driving a chariot like a madman is benign by comparison. So read 2 Kings 9:14-26 and laugh; then read the rest of 1 and 2 Kings and cry.

5. Born...Again?

Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born again after having grown old?” (John 3:4a)

Why It’s Funny

Nicodemus doesn’t get the whole “born again” thing. How can someone who has already been born be born a second time? he reasons. Close your eyes and picture a grown man emerging from his mother’s womb. Disturbing? Yes. Disgusting? Yes. Funny? Yes.

Why It’s Okay to Laugh

Because this Scripture is meant to be funny. The evangelist wants us to laugh at Nicodemus’ inability to spot a metaphor. His misunderstanding also teaches us an important lesson: Much of the language we use to describe our faith doesn’t make much sense to those outside the church. We should never assume that seekers and newcomers understand the metaphors, figures of speech, and theological buzzwords that dominate our Sunday-morning lexicon.

4. Balaam’s Donkey Talks

Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” (Numbers 22:28)

Why It’s Funny

What’s not funny about a talking donkey?

Think about The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. At some point during the intense battle scenes toward the end of the first volume of C.S. Lewis’ fantasy epic, one has to pause and say to oneself, “Hey. That’s a talking beaver, his name is Mr. Beaver, and he’s fighting in a war. That’s pretty silly.” Numbers 22 has a similar effect. This chapter tells the story of Balak, king of Moab, and a seer named Balaam. It takes place during a time of war. But in the middle of the story, God makes a donkey talk. Among other things, the donkey says, “Am I not your donkey, which you have ridden all your life to this day?” That’s pretty silly.

Why It’s Okay to Laugh

The God of Scripture has a great sense of humor and loves to find creative ways to get our attention (burning bushes, voices in the night, angels, locust-eating prophets, and so forth). As far as we know, God meant to get a laugh out of Balaam’s talking donkey. Maybe something as ridiculous as a burro who went to Hebrew school was the only way to get Balaam’s attention.

3. The Rabshakeh Talks Smack

But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the people sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and to drink their own urine?” (2 Kings 18:27)

Why It’s Funny

The arrogance and bravado of the Rabshakeh, an emissary of King Sennacherib of Assyria, has to provoke a guffaw, or at least a chuckle. It reminds readers of the trash talk delivered by another cocky enemy of God’s people (1 Samuel 17:41-44). But the Rabshakeh takes smack-talk to the next level by incorporating the eating of dung and the drinking of urine.

Why It’s Okay to Laugh

Proverbs 16:18 answers that question: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Trash talk often foreshadows a humbling or humiliating downfall. Such was the case with the Rabshakeh. While camped outside Jerusalem, the Assyrian army that would have invaded Judah suffered one of the most bewildering defeats in military history (see 2 Kings 19:35.) Go ahead and laugh at the Rabshakeh’s premature haughtiness, but think twice next time you feel the urge to talk some smack (especially smack-talk involving human waste).

2. Jeremiah’s Linen Shorts

Thus said the Lord to me, “Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth, and put it on your loins, but do not dip it in water.” (Jeremiah 13:1)

Why It’s Funny

This particular Scripture, which has been immortalized in a Ted & Lee sketch4, is probably the only biblical story about crusty underwear. The story begins when God tells the prophet Jeremiah to get a new pair of shorts and to wear them but not wash them. After a while, God tells Jeremiah to take off the shorts and hide them in a crack in a rock. Several days later, God instructs the prophet to retrieve the shorts. To no one’s surprise, the undergarment is ruined. God laments, “For as the loincloth clings to one’s loins, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me...But they would not listen” (verse 11). Thus God vows to “ruin the pride of Judah” (verse 9) just as Jeremiah ruined the linen shorts.

Why It’s Okay to Laugh

God, having become fully human in the person of Jesus, knows what it’s like to be human. Thus God cannot put a prophet through an object lesson spanning several days involving dirty underwear and not expect us to laugh.

And the winner…

1. Eutychus Falls to His Death

A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in the window, began to sink off into a deep sleep while Paul talked still longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell to the ground three floors below and was picked up dead. (Acts 20:9)

Why It’s Funny

Luke is obviously a fan of Paul, devoting two-thirds of the Acts of the Apostles to the story of the prolific persecutor-turned-evangelist. Luke’s volume about the early church culminates with the tale of Paul preaching in Rome (Acts 28:23-31), where he eventually was executed. But even Luke can’t resist the opportunity to illustrate Paul’s ability to bore someone to death (literally) with his long-winded preaching. As it were, later in Acts 20, Paul sees fit to warn the Ephesian elders to “be alert” (verse 31); one has to wonder whether some of the elders were dozing off, too.

Why It’s Okay to Laugh

This story offers relief to every kid who’s ever dozed off during a lengthy sermon. (I would suspect that most churchgoing adolescents have had such an experience.) Take comfort and know that God (probably) won’t allow a long, dry homily to send you to your grave.

1 Kathy Williams, “At the Expense of Women: Humor(?) in Acts,” Are We Amused?: Humor About Women in the Biblical Worlds, Athalya Brenner, ed., Continuum International, 2003.

2 David K. Rensberger, “John,” Harper Collins Study Bible (NRSV), Harper Collins, 1994, p. 2054.

3 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000. From this site.

4 This sketch is part of the Creation Chronicles show, here.