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You're listening to Tim Bulkeley's
5 minute Bible Humor in the Bible
The book by Amos Amos 4 verse 1
in modern
anglophone situations calling a woman "you cow"
is probably neither smart nor clever
nor funny, it's just rude but what was going on when
Amos said to the women of Samaria
"Hear this word you cows of Bashan, you who are on Mount Samaria
who oppress the poor who crush the needy, who say their husbands
bring something to drink!" It's been debated
exactly what's going on, some scholars try to make a cultural reference out of it
claiming that the devotees of Baal
called themselves his "cows" at least if they were feminine
perhaps not, there's almost certainly
strong agricultural background to it, in his commentary
Mays put it like this "Amos called the wives at the rich, Bashan cows
the epithet was not in itself an insult. Bashan in transjordan was noted for
its rich forests and pastures
and particularly for fine cattle (Deuteronomy 32:14
Psalm 22:12 Ezekiel 39:18
Bashan was a hallmark of quality."
and
so indeed it was but
it's perhaps not just the agricultural background that's important here
maybe there is also an element
of play with the title, as
King in his archaeological commentary writes
"...also cows maybe an honorific title interpreted
ironically by Amos." In his study: "Animal names as designations in Ugaritic and
Hebrew"
Patrick Miller concludes that animal names may be used metaphorically as
titles of leaders and nobles
in Amos 4:1 the feminine plural form paroi cows
refers to the wives the leaders, so it may be that the
honorific title cow is being used ironically by Amos" And this is all
interesting but you can't help wondering
Where's the joke? Well
you can't help wondering where's the joke if you had the experience reading this passage to
a bunch of students
and them all laughing. Which was the regular response I got in Mobutu's
Zaire
from my students. You see
they were quite used to seeing the rich women that the elite get out from their
Mercedes in town
and for the chauffeur to rush around doing their bidding
and the sleek and well fed women
who were usually not at all small, did indeed fit the description
cows of Bashan and in that context
what follows in verse 2 perhaps didn't seem
quite as bad as it seems in a comfortable western context
so did Amos
mean 4:1 to be funny? Well let's look at those criteria
for the presence of humor: incongruity bags of it
first in the description cows of Bashan and then the possible overtones of it
and they'll in there saying to their Lord's: "Bring us a drink"
Lighthearted mood: well perhaps, perhaps not
Surprise: certainly Ingenuity: think the puns
there's ingenuity here and think all the possible echoes of that phrase cows of
Bashan all of which work
Hyperbole:
oh yes these women ordering their lords
"Bring us a drink" Inferiority:
well certainly among my students
as they heard it there was a sense that their inferiority
to these women in the social order of the day Disguise or pretending to be
something
else: well maybe in the name cows of Bashan but I'm not too sure
We'll leave inelasticity this time but I will claim that there is human pretension
revealed in all its lack of glory
in the pretensions of these
sleek women to the elite
humor with a bite but
this time at least even in the prophets humor that raises a laugh or a smile
bye for now, God bless