That's Punny! (1 Samuel 25:23)

It has been said that one sign of intelligence is the ability to pun.

In my company, all of the employees love a clever turn of phrase or to create puns. A recent clever pun was told just the other day about one of my employee’s uncle who had a fondness for mushrooms. He was admiring the complexity of the mushrooms, pointing out that mushrooms are more like animals rather than plants. In fact, mushrooms are in their own kingdom called fungi. The uncle then said, “Wow, wouldn’t it be great if I could join a mushroom colony? But I wonder if they would accept me?”

Without missing a beat, my employee said, “It would be no problem for you to join them, all you have to do is tell them you are fun guy (fungi)!”

That’s punny! Yes, my employees are definitely of superior intelligence!

The original manuscripts of the Bible were written in Hebrew and Greek. The Bible that we read is an accurate translation of these original manuscripts, none of which exist today. However, sometimes the subtleties of language are lost in translation. There are numerous examples of wordplay and puns in the Bible. One well known play on words is the story of the rich man Nabal, who mistreated King David’s men after David extended a kind hand to him. Nabal’s wife, Abigail, saw the folly of her husband’s actions and intercepted David before he attacked Nabal.

Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent.
1 Samuel 25:23

Nabal means fool and this man more than lived up to his name. The Bible is quite humorous and it would therefore follow, created by a superior intelligence! But one question still remains in my mind. What parent would name their child “fool”?

Praise God for His Word which is faithful and true!

Love and praise the Lord; seek His will in your life. 

PS...here are additional puns.