"MOCKING" IN THE BIBLE: PART 1

 Whenever I carry out a word study on a Hebrew or Greek word found in the Bible I am reminded anew how word usage differs from language to language. In the present case, I chose the Hebrew root htl and words derived from it. But then I found that there was a related set of words stemming from tll. Carpenter and Grisanti explain, “Scholars debate the relationship of the verbs tll and htl...Fensham suggest that both tll and htl derived from an original biconsonantal form tl. Consequently tll and htl represent parallel forms rather than primary and secondary forms, respectively. Scholarly consensus, however, suggests that htl is a secondary development of tll.”

The next thing I learned was that the verb hathal could mean either to deceive or to mock, two ideas which are not really that closely aligned in English. Below is a quick summary of the various places in the Old Testament where this class of words occurs.

Genesis 31:7

Jacob explains to his wives that “your father has deceived me,” in reference to his wages being changed frequently. Of course, the reader recognizes that this is a case of divine retribution for the way Jacob had earlier deceived his own father into giving him the preferred blessing. Note two telltale echoes of the earlier event that help to bring out this point. First is the fact that Laban disguised the identity of Jacob's first bride to deceive him just as Jacob had disguised himself. Secondly, is the present of “goats” in both cases since it was goat-skin on his arm that Jacob used to deceive his father just as the promised wages to Jacob involved the color of the goat-skins of the flocks.

Exodus 5-10

This key word pops up next in the story of the plagues of Egypt. Toward the end of the 10 plagues, at 8:29, Moses says to God, “Let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully (hathal) any more.” And, in fact, God turns the tables on Pharaoh, which He explains in 10:2 as mocking (hit'allel) the Egyptians. This demonstrates the second basic meaning of the root htl, translated here variously as lording over (AB), making fools of (TEV) or making sport of (NEB). Durham even expresses the meaning as “I amused myself aggravating the Egyptians.” Prop says, “The nuance of hit'allel is to act with capricious power.”

But we must be careful at this point to avoid ascribing human emotions to God. Cole clarifies that the concept of God making sport of Egypt “represents not an emotion but the effect produced. It is an anthropomorphism, an expression of divine activity in human terms, like God's laughter in the Psalms (Ps. 2:4), and must not be unfairly pressed as a theological point.”

However, there is a good theological point brought out by Exodus 10:2, as explained by Sanderson, who feels that this verse together with Exodus 9:14-16 is “one of the fullest statements of God's complex purpose” since it demonstrates that God has a way of accomplishing more than one goal through the very same action. Thus, by making sport of the Egyptians through the plagues, God mocked the Egyptian gods, demonstrated to the Egyptians that He was incomparable, made His name resound throughout the world, and provided stories of His might for the Jews to tell their descendants.

Judges 16:10,13,15

Toward the end of the story of Samson, three times he mocks Delilah's attempts to determine the source of his strength. One could equally translate the key word as “mock” or “deceive” in chapter 16 since Samson is doing both at the same time. When Samson finally he gives in, the Philistines are able to capture him. After blinding him, they force him to provide the entertainment at one of their gatherings so that they can mock (different Hebrew word) him in turn. Of course, it is Samson who has the last laugh.

I Kings 18:27

The context of the next example is similarly a battle between God and pagan gods. It concerns the contest of Mt. Carmel where Elijah faced off against all the priests of Baal. Elijah mocks the priests in their vain attempts to rouse their god. “Laden with sarcasm and irony, Elijah's remarks are clearly intended to belittle and berate Baal and his prophets. The intensity of his taunts moves beyond making fun to defamation.” (T. Powell) Concerning the validity of Elijah's tactics, Krummacher notes, “Where reason no longer avails, and where proofs are no longer acknowledged, such irony may occasionally serve a good purpose.”

Cogan has an interesting, but unlikely, take on this passage: “In regard to meaning, htl conveys dishonesty; it is both 'to cheat' (Gen 31:7) and 'to lie' (Jer 9:4), even 'to be two-faced (Isa 30:10); thus rather than the usual translation 'mock', perhaps it means Elijah 'deluded' the prophets into thinking he was serious when he said Baal was a god.” Personally, I feel it is preferable to admit that the root word can have more than one meaning.

Job 13:9

Job accuses his friends of “deceiving (NRSV)” God in v. 9 and then in the following verse prophesies rightly that God will rebuke them. Pope translates the key word as “trick” and notes that Job stresses the futility of any such attempts to fool God. Hartley says, “With more searching questions, Job leads the friends to ponder the responsibility of both their reasoning falsely and their condescending attitude toward him. They must not assume that they will be rewarded or vindicated for their deceptive words when God hears Job's case.”

Isaiah 30:10

In this interesting verse the people of Israel are accused of not listening to God's instruction and instead say to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things.” (NRSV) Carpenter and Grisanti state, “The unique form, mahatalla...signifies the illusions God's children wanted to hear rather than the sober truth from the Holy One of Israel.” Unfortunately, Christians today are not immune from preferring a comfortable lie to an uncomfortable truth.

Jeremiah 9:4-5

NRSV reads, “All your kin are supplanters and every neighbor goes around like a slanderer. They all deceive their neighbors, and no one speaks the truth.” The Hebrew word for “supplanter” in this verse is a pun on Jacob's name so that D.R. Jones paraphrases 'aqobyaqob as “every brother stoops to Jacob's trickery.”

By contrast, NEB translates v. 5 as “they make game of their friends,” thus going with “mock” in place of “deceive” as the basic meaning of mahal in this case.

In either case, it is intriguing that the first and last usages of this word appear in the context of Jacob, the arch-deceiver. In a future post on other words for “mocking” in the Bible I will show that the patriarchs were intimately associated with the concept.