Chapter Ten
Satire
The Prominence of Satire in the Bible
THERE IS MORE SATIRE IN THE BIBLE than one would guess from standard discus-
sions. Many a passage in the Bible would make a great deal more sense to us if we
simply added satire to our lexicon of literary terms.
A Definition of Satire
Satire is the exposure, through ridicule or rebuke, of human vice or folly. An ob-
ject of attack is the essential ingredient. Thus defined, satire is not inherently lit-
erary, since the exposure of vice or folly can occur in nonliterary as well as literary
writing. Satire becomes literary when the controlling purpose of attack is com-
bined with a literary method, such as fiction, story, description of characters,
metaphor, and so forth. Satire may appear in any literary genre (such as narrative,
lyric, or parable), and it may be either a minor part of a work or the main content
of an entire work. Although satire usually has one main object of attack, satiric
works often make a number of jabs in various directions, a feature that has been
called “satiric ripples.”
Object of Attack
In any literary satire, there are four main elements that require the reader’s atten-
tion. The first is the object(s) of attack. The object of attack might be a single
thing. Thus the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31) attacks love
of money and the callous unconcern that it encourages, and the Book of Jonah ex-
poses the type of Jewish ethnocentrism that tried to make God’s mercy the exclu-
sive property of the Jews. But in a satire such as the Book of Amos or Jesus’ satiric
discourse against the Pharisees in Matthew 23, the list of things being attacked is
an ever-expanding list of diverse abuses. Another thing to note about the object of
attack is that it can be either a historical particular or a universal vice. The parable
of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9–14), for example, is specifically an
attack on the self-righteousness of the Pharisees, while the parable of the rich fool
(Luke 12:13–21) is not about a specific category of materialistic people but about
covetous greed in general.
The Satiric Vehicle
The second thing to note in a satire is the satiric vehicle. Story is one of the com-
monest satiric vehicles, as in the story of Jonah or the satiric parables of Jesus. In
the absence of a full-fledged story, there can be brief snatches of action, as when
Amos recounts the immoral actions of which Israel is guilty (Amos 2:6–12), or
when Isaiah briefly narrates how idol worshipers first have a goldsmith make an
image and then fall down before the lifeless statue (Isa. 46:5–7). The portrait tech-
nique or character sketch is a standard form with satirists. Typical specimens are
Ezekiel’s satiric portrait of the prince of Tyre (Ezek. 28:1–19) or Isaiah’s portrait of
the haughty women of Jerusalem, who can be seen
walking along with outstretched necks,
flirting with their eyes,
tripping along with mincing steps,
with ornaments jingling on their ankles (Isa. 3:16).
Such literary forms as narrative and portrait are among the more artistic and
sophisticated types of satiric vehicle. At the more informal end of the spectrum we
find an array of cruder satiric weapons. One is direct vituperation or denunciation:
“Hear this word, you cows of Bashan. . . ,” shouts Amos to the wealthy women of
Israel (4:1). The “woe formula’’ is equally direct: “Woe to you, scribes and Phar-
isees. . . Jesus repeatedly says in Matthew 23. A satiric vehicle can be as brief and
simple as a derogatory epithet or title (“you blind guides,’’ Jesus calls the Phar-
isees in Matt. 23:16, 23), or an uncomplimentary metaphor or simile, as when
Jesus compares the Pharisees to whitewashed tombs that are outwardly beautiful
but inwardly filled with repulsive decay (Matt. 23:27–28).
The Satiric Tone
Thirdly, satire always has a prevailing tone. There are two possibilities, which lit-
erary scholars have named after two Roman satirists. Horatian satire is gently ur-
bane, smiling, subtle. It aims to correct folly or vice by gentle laughter, on the
premise that it can be laughed out of existence. Examples of the “soft sell” ap-
proach to satire include the story of Jonah, the pouting prophet; Isaiah’s rollicking
story of the steps by which a pagan fashions an idol out of wood and uses part of
the very same piece of wood to build a fire (Isa. 44:9–17); and Jesus’ hilarious por-
trait of the Pharisees who “strain out a gnat but swallow a camel” (Matt. 23:24).
The other type of satire, traditionally known as Juvenalian satire, is biting, bit-
ter, and angry in tone. It does not try to laugh vice out of existence but instead at-
tempts to lash it out of existence. It points with contempt and moral indignation
at the corruptness and evil of people and institutions. Most satire in the Bible is of
this type, and it includes a large quantity of scorn (as distinct from humorous
laughter).
The Satiric Norm
Finally, satire always has a stated or implied satiric norm—a standard by which
the object of attack is being criticized. The satiric norm is the positive model that
is offered to the reader as an alternative to the negative picture that always domi-
nates a satiric work. In the story of Jonah, for example, the universal mercy of God
extended to the repentant city of Nineveh is a positive foil to the misguided na-
tionalism of Jonah. In the Sermon on the Mount, each of Jesus’ satiric charges
against the Pharisees is accompanied by a positive command (Matt. 6:1–14).
The Pervasiveness of Satire in the Bible
Where can we find this type of satire in the Bible? Virtually everywhere. Books
such as Jonah and Amos are wholly satiric. Other books are heavily satiric; for
example, the Book of Job holds up the orthodox “comforters” to rebuke, and the
Book of Ecclesiastes is a prolonged satiric attack against a society that is much
like our own—acquisitive, materialistic, hedonistic, secular. Many of Jesus’ para-
bles are satiric (e.g., the rich man and Lazarus, and the Pharisee and the
publican). There is a satiric thread in biblical narrative whenever a character’s
flaws are prominently displayed (for example, Jacob’s greed, Haman’s pride, and
the Pharisees’ antagonism to Jesus in the Gospels). Satire can show up in lyric po-
etry, as in taunt songs directed against the worshipers of idols, or the portraits of
the speaker’s enemies in the psalms of lament. Many biblical proverbs have a
satiric edge (“Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no
discretion,” Prov. 11:22). And the discourses of Jesus in the Gospels are often
satiric.
Satire in Biblical Prophecy
The largest category of satire in the Bible is prophetic writing. The two major types
of prophetic oracle (pronouncement) are the oracle of judgment and the oracle of
salvation. The best literary approach to the oracle of judgment is satire. These pas-
sages always have a discernible object of attack, a standard by which the judgment
is rendered, and a vehicle of attack (at its simplest, it consists of a prediction of
calamity in which the prophet pictures in vivid and specific detail a reversal of
present conditions). Such satiric oracles of judgment pervade the prophetic books
of the Bible; typical specimens are Isaiah 5; Ezekiel 28:1–19; and Ezekiel 34.
SUMMARY
Much of the Bible’s truth and wisdom have been enshrined in the form of satire.
By framing truth as an attack on vice or folly, biblical satire drives its point home
with an electric charge. Usually the attack is conducted by means of a discernible
literary technique. Despite the negative approach of the satirist (who is always
busy attacking someone or something), a positive norm emerges from biblical
satire because it includes a foil to the evil that is attacked. That foil is usually the
character or law of God. Satire is an unsettling genre. Its aim is to induce discom-
fort with the way things are, which explains why there is so much of it in the Bible.
The reader’s task with satire is fourfold: to identify the object(s) of attack, the satiric
vehicle, the tone, and the norm or standard by which things are criticized.
Further Reading
Leland Ryken, The Literature of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974), pp.
261–70; Edwin M. Good, Irony in the Old Testament (Philadelphia: Westminster,
1965), as indicated in the index; Harry Boonstra, “Satire in Matthew,” Christianity
and Literature, 29, no. 4 (Summer 1980): 32–45; Elton Trueblood, The Humor of
Christ (New York: Harper and Row, 1964), especially chapter 4. Although it does
not use the framework of literary satire, Claus Westermann’s Basic Forms of
Prophetic Speech, trans. Hugh C. White (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1967), has
material that can easily be assimilated into the category of satire.
