Sarcasm in the Bible
I kind of love sarcasm.
I understand that it may not be the most “proper” or civilized trait, and I fully recognize that I’m often too sarcastic for my own good.
Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle said that sarcasm is, “the language of the devil; for which reason I have long since as good as renounced it.”
One of the more recognizable quotes about sarcasm came from the writer Oscar Wilde: “Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit,” but many leave out the rest of his quote, which in itself reveals the sarcasm in the quote about sarcasm—totally meta. “Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, but the highest form of intelligence.”
I love a good joke. Irony is amusing to me. And I am far too critical. I’m working on it.
I was reading Job the other day (just really looking for an encouraging pick-me-up, y’know?) and stumbled upon some of Job’s sarcastic repartee between himself and his friends. It got me wondering what other examples of sarcasm might be found in Scripture.
Turns out, there’s no shortage. Some examples are funny, some admirable, and some are not any example we would want to follow.
So here are some of the notable examples of sarcasm in the Bible, but first…
What Is Sarcasm?
Dictionary.com seems to emphasize the strictly negative connotation of sarcasm, citing “harsh, cutting, or bitter derision.” I think there’s a milder sense of sarcasm which is essentially just the use of sarcasm to draw attention to the inconsistencies or deficiencies of a person, place, or situation.
I sometimes view it as drawing attention to something that is really just silly or crazy when you stop to think about it. Certainly I also use it the other way far too much as well. But sometimes I just can’t resist a good sarcastic comeback.
Speaking of good sarcastic comebacks…
Sarcasm in the Prophets (and Job)
Job 12:2
“No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.”
I absolutely love this response from Job.
We’ve had a few chapters now of Job’s friends doing a terrible job of consoling him. They haven’t even really gotten into it yet (there are still 30 more chapters of Job after this) and Job is already kind of fed up with them.
“You’re right, you guys are the epitome of knowledge. Whatever would we do without your innate gift of wisdom?”
This sounds like something I would say. Let me take a quick break from my self-loathing and wondering why this would happen to me, and take some of my frustration out on my friends (sorry Preston).
This moment is pure gold, and proof that there is, in fact, humor in the Bible. Yes, of course we should take the Bible seriously. But we can also recognize when the situations are fun or funny.
And, for the record, a lot of Job can definitely been read through the lens of sarcasm or irony. Especially when God answers Job in chapter 38 and on. He is basically saying, “Since you have it all figured out, answer me these things.”
So, so good.
1 Kings 18:27
“And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
This is probably one of the more familiar examples of sarcasm in the Bible, and there’s a good reason for it. Let’s set the stage.
Elijah is locked in a standoff with the prophets of Ba’al. Just him against hundreds of false prophets and lead idol worshipers. He has set a challenge before those gathered: you build an altar and see if your god will set fire to it, and then I’ll build one for mine. We will know who the real God is by which altar goes up in smoke.
So the prophets of Ba’al build up their altar, and they can’t make anything happen. Not even a spark. They’re doing drastic, absolutely silly things, and still nothing.
At this point, Elijah begins to taunt them.
“Maybe you’re not being loud enough, that’s probably it. Or maybe he’s just daydreaming and can’t come to the phone. He’s probably in the bathroom. Is your little god on a potty break? No, he must be on vacation. He just needed a break. Yell a little louder, he’s asleep and can’t hear you!”
It’s such a good moment, and it’s always one of my favorites to read about. And if you haven’t seen how it ends, Elijah builds his altar, covers it with water just for good measure, and the Lord sends down fire and burns everything up to ashes. Even all the water is licked up by the flames, just so there is no mistaking what happened.
Isaiah 44:14–17
“He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it.
Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it.
Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, ‘Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!’
And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, ‘Deliver me, for you are my god!’”
This ironic little short story serves to illustrate how ridiculous idol worship is. Especially worshiping idols made by a craftsman. It’s a whole sarcastic little diatribe from God through Isaiah meant to show how silly we are.
When you take a step back and really think about how much we devote ourselves to man-made objects of worship, it’s pure nonsense. Whether carved or graven idols of yesteryear or the continued expressions of idolatry that we willfully embrace today, it’s a problem.
So God draws attention to it. I almost want to hear Him say that last line in a sarcastic voice, like “DeLiVeR mE fOr YoU aRe My GoD!”
If it’s ridiculous, we’re absolutely allowed to make fun of it. So point out the silliness of your idols, and then get rid of them altogether and set your sights on God alone.
1 Kings 22:15–16
And when he had come to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we refrain?” And he answered him, “Go up and triumph; the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” But the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”
This is another fun little moment, and it’s made even better when you remember that Micaiah was one of Elijah’s disciples. You know, that master of sarcasm from the narrative above in 1 Kings 18. Apparently Elijah didn’t just teach about God, he taught the wonderful ways of sarcasm. I’m kind of jealous, I think.
Anyway, this is another one that some Millennial or Gen Z translator will probably use sarcastic typing with at some point. Let me provide some context, because at first, it’s hard to see the sarcasm.
Just prior to these verses, the king is trying to decide whether or not to go to war, and someone suggests that he ask the prophet of God, Micaiah. The king starts whining about how Micaiah always tells him things that he doesn’t want to hear.
It’s like when your kid doesn’t want to ask his dad, because his dad always says no. That kind of thing. Well, the king summons the prophet anyway, and prophet, knowing the king’s heart and intent, answers “gO uP aNd TrIuMpH.”
We know he was being sarcastic, because the king doesn’t like his response (even though it’s exactly what he wanted to hear) and scolds the prophet. So the prophet tells him God’s honest truth, and the king scoffs, goes to battle anyway, and eventually dies.
Such a good little moment that illustrates well that at the end of the day, even the prophets were still just people with human emotions and responses.
Speaking of human responses…
Sarcasm in the New Testament
Galatians 5:12
“I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!”
This one can get a little choppy (pun intended) so maybe don’t read this example to your preschoolers.
The context is that Paul has confronted the legalistic converted Jews on the issue of circumcision yet again. It’s a recurring theme. People feel like the gospel is too easy, so we always want to make salvation harder than it really is.
So in this case, even after Paul has confronted Peter about the issue and the early church leaders had made the decision about whether circumcision is really needed, the crazy folks in Galatia are still trying to make it happen.
So Paul makes his point throughout much of Galatians, he concludes with this pretty aggressive statement: “I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!”
Yikes.
That’s like, Old Testament stuff right there. But here it is, preserved for all time in a New Testament letter from Paul himself. I think it’s hilarious.
I always kind of get the idea that he’s like, “Oh you think chopping off the end will save you? Well why don’t you go ahead and lop the whole thing off, just to be sure you’re really saved.”
I like this Paul guy. He says what we’re all thinking. Speaking of Paul…
2 Corinthians 12:13
“For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!”
As with many of these, this is a passage that is far better understood with a little bit of context.
So Paul made a number of journeys to visit the church in Corinth. We know from his letters that he held that place in a special place in his heart.
So the last time he visited them before writing this letter, he stayed and ministered with them, and didn’t ask that they pay him or anything. He specifically didn’t want to be a burden for that church while he was there.
There are a few points in his ministry where you see that he often will direct one church to help meet the financial needs of another, and this may be what has transpired here. At any rate, he asks for nothing, and specifically says that he doesn’t want anything from them so that he wouldn’t be a burden for him.
Evidently, because of his sacrifice and insistence on not taking anything from the church, the church had become to view him as maybe a lesser apostle than the “real” apostles. It would be the modern day equivalent of simply assuming that the preacher with the highest price tag must be the best one out there (spoiler, that’s not true). Paul even refers tongue-in-cheek to the rest of the guys as “super apostles” in the previous verse.
So now he’s basically like “I’m SO sorry that I had the audacity to come and serve you for free, please forgive me.”
I love this kind of response. It’s 100% something I would say or do, whether right or wrong.
It’s just a lot of fun to see the raw humanness come out of these biblical heroes.
But not every example of sarcasm in the Bible is a mark of admirable wit from our heroes. Sometimes there are examples of sarcasm that we definitely should not follow.
Probably Don’t Be Sarcastic to God
Genesis 4:9
“Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?”
It started pretty much all the way at the beginning. We’ve been doing this sarcasm thing for awhile.
You know the story: Cain was jealous of Abel and killed him. It’s the first murder in human history, and it happens right off the bat. We’re off to a great start.
There’s really nothing amusing about this. The Lord comes and asks Cain about where Abel is. (Side note, God knows everything, so even this is an ironic question)
Cain snaps back “I dOn’T KnOw; Am I mY bRoThEr’S kEePeR?”
It probably goes without saying, but don’t be sarcastic with God. Sometimes my kids will let something slip when their mouth is faster than their brain, and they immediately realize they made a big oops.
I have to imagine Cain was in a similar situation. Can you picture it? He shoots that off and then immediately ducks before he gets smacked upside the head so hard, it would make Mark Harmon proud.
Oops. Well, thankfully we serve a merciful God, and even though He has to backhand us occasionally, He liberal with His grace! And it was no different with Cain. He was exiled, but protected by the hand and promise of God. Good stuff.
2 Samuel 6:20
“And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, ‘How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!’”
In another example of the “you-should-have-kept-your-mouth-shut” brand of sarcasm, we have this little narrative from the life of King David.
We see the Ark of the Covenant finally back where it belongs, and David celebrates his guts out about it. Almost literally, because apparently he was just dancing out in public in his skivvies.
So he comes back home to continue the party with his family, and one of his wives, King Saul’s daughter, gives him the what-for. She mocks him and calls out what she believes his is indecent behavior and she’s just dripping with sarcasm.
“Look at our great and illustrious king dancing naked in front of everyone! How esteemed is our king!”
David gets the last laugh, however, and becomes the inspiration for one 2000s worship song that will forever live rent-free in my brain when he says that he would be that undignified and more in his worship of the Lord. And then the Lord basically disgraced Michal for the rest of her life for her insolence. Oops.
Exodus 14:11–12
“They said to Moses, ‘Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?’”
In our last example of sarcasm to not emulate, we have the whiny nation of Israel just after their escape from slavery at the hands of the Egyptians. They’ve been on the move when they stop by the Red Sea. Lo and behold, what do they see when they turn around? The armies of Pharaoh coming to attack and reclaim all their slaves. Bummer.
They nation of Israel is pretty put out with all this mess (little did they know they were about to be in for a very long haul), and they chastise Moses saying, among other things, “is it because there are no graves in Egypt?”
This one makes me chuckle because think about the one thing that ancient Egypt is known for. Tombs. Elaborate and numerous tombs.
That’s like, literally what they do. All they do is build fancy graves all over the place. You can really see Israel’s poor attitude and frustration on display here.
They’re basically saying, “if you wanted to kill us, we may as well have stayed in Egypt. At least there we know what kind of grave we’ll find ourselves in.”
But it’s probably not a good idea to provoke the Lord with this kind of sarcastic response. He had just delivered them from slavery after all! But alas, people are really good at choosing the complete wrong response.
But not all examples of sarcasm in the Bible are bad. Here are two really fun examples:
Even Jesus Was Sarcastic Sometimes
Mark 7:9
“And he said to them, ‘You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!’”
Yes, even Jesus wasn’t afraid to lob a little sarcastic bomb at the people he encountered who were being ridiculous.
Of course he’s talking to the pharisees and Jewish leaders here. Who else?
They were complaining that the disciples didn’t wash their hands before the ate (which I still complain about my kids doing the same thing, but this isn’t about me). There’s a little discourse about what the law actually says and what it means.
The pharisees are in their ever-present quest to make fools of themselves prove how smart they are, and after answering them with a quote from Isaiah, he basically says, “If it’s a compliment you’re after, here you go: you’re really good at breaking the law—you’re the best at it! Congratulations!”
Excellent. I love the tone. It makes me happy to know that God appreciates humor.
John 1:47
“Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!’”
I’ll be honest, I didn’t realize until fairly recently that there was some irony embedded in Jesus’ statement here. I’ve always thought, “oh wow, that Nathanael is a pretty stand-up guy!”
I’m sure ole Nate was just a swell fella, but that’s not what Jesus is getting at here. To understand what’s happening, we need to walk it back a bit.
When Philip came to tell Nathanael about Jesus of Nazareth, good ole Nate said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
But he entertains Philip and goes to see what all the fuss is about. That’s when Jesus drops this gem. He’s basically saying, “Well as I live and breathe, there’s mister perfect himself!”
He knew exactly what Nate had said, and decided to call him out, “since you’re the authority on perfect, I’m so glad you came to see if I’m really God. Not sure what we would’ve done without you.”
This perspective makes the whole interaction make a lot more sense to me. Instead of Nathanael being like, “Ah yes, you recognize my awesomeness,” his response is more of, “well I guess I need to put my sandal in my mouth.”
It’s also super neat that Jesus turned this into a teachable moment. It’s a really cool interaction that I love reading.
So there you have it. A big ole list of sarcasm in the Bible. It exists! Were you surprised by any of these? Did I leave some create examples out? If so, let me know in the comments!
