Luke 8:53

8:53 And they began making fun ¹  of him, because they knew ²  that she was dead. ³ 

Luke 16:14-15

More Warnings about the Pharisees

16:14 The Pharisees ⁴  (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed ⁵  him. 16:15 But ⁶  Jesus ⁷  said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, ⁸  but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized ⁹  among men is utterly detestable ¹⁰  in God’s sight.

Psalms 22:6-7

22:6 But I ¹¹  am a worm, ¹²  not a man; ¹³ 

people insult me and despise me. ¹⁴ 

22:7 All who see me taunt ¹⁵  me;

they mock me ¹⁶  and shake their heads. ¹⁷ 

Proverbs 14:13

14:13 Even in laughter the heart may ache, ¹⁸ 

and the end ¹⁹  of joy may be ²⁰  grief.

Ecclesiastes 2:2

2:2 I said of partying, ²¹  “It is folly,”

and of self-indulgent pleasure, ²²  “It accomplishes nothing!” ²³ 

Ecclesiastes 7:3

7:3 Sorrow ²⁴  is better than laughter,

because sober reflection ²⁵  is good for the heart. ²⁶ 

Ecclesiastes 7:6

7:6 For like the crackling of quick-burning thorns ²⁷  under a cooking pot,

so is the laughter of the fool.

This kind of folly ²⁸  also is useless. ²⁹ 

Ephesians 5:4

5:4 Neither should there be vulgar speech, foolish talk, or coarse jesting – all of which are out of character – but rather thanksgiving.

James 4:9

4:9 Grieve, mourn, ³⁰  and weep. Turn your laughter ³¹  into mourning and your joy into despair.

[8:53]  ¹ tn This imperfect verb has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[8:53]  ² tn The participle εἰδότες (eidotes) has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[8:53]  ³ tn Or “had died.”

[16:14]  ⁴ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[16:14]  ⁵ tn A figurative extension of the literal meaning “to turn one’s nose up at someone”; here “ridicule, sneer at, show contempt for” (L&N 33.409).

[16:15]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[16:15]  ⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:15]  ⁸ tn Grk “before men.” The contrast is between outward appearance (“in people’s eyes”) and inward reality (“God knows your hearts”). Here the Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used twice in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, but “men” has been retained in the text to provide a strong verbal contrast with “God” in the second half of the verse.

[16:15]  ⁹ tn Or “exalted.” This refers to the pride that often comes with money and position.

[16:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or “is an abomination,” “is abhorrent” (L&N 25.187).

[22:6]  ¹¹ tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist’s experience and that of his ancestors. When he considers God’s past reliability, it only heightens his despair and confusion, for God’s present silence stands in stark contrast to his past saving acts.

[22:6]  ¹² tn The metaphor expresses the psalmist’s self-perception, which is based on how others treat him (see the following line).

[22:6]  ¹³ tn Or “not a human being.” The psalmist perceives himself as less than human.

[22:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a reproach of man and despised by people.”

[22:7]  ¹⁵ tn Or “scoff at, deride, mock.”

[22:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “they separate with a lip.” Apparently this refers to their verbal taunting.

[22:7]  ¹⁷ sn Shake their heads. Apparently this refers to a taunting gesture. See also Job 16:4; Ps 109:25; Lam 2:15.

[14:13]  ¹⁸ sn No joy is completely free of grief. There is a joy that is superficial and there is underlying pain that will remain after the joy is gone.

[14:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and its end, joy, is grief.” The suffix may be regarded as an Aramaism, a proleptic suffix referring to “joy.”

[14:13]  ²⁰ tn The phrase “may be” is not in the Hebrew but is supplied from the parallelism, which features an imperfect of possibility.

[2:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “laughter.” The term שְׂחוֹק (sÿkhoq, “laughter”) has a fourfold range of meanings: (1) “joyful laughter” (Ps 126:2; Prov 14:13; Job 8:21); (2) “frivolous laughter, merrymaking” (Eccl 2:2; 7:3, 6); (3) “pleasure, sport” (Prov 10:23; Eccl 10:19); and (4) “derision, mockery, laughingstock” (Jer 20:7; 48:26, 27, 39; Job 12:4; Lam 3:14). See HALOT 1315 s.v שְׂחוֹק; BDB 966 s.v. שְׂחֹק. In Ecclesiastes, שְׂחוֹק is always used in contexts of self-indulgent banqueting, drinking, frivolous partying and merrymaking (Eccl 2:2; 7:3, 6; 10:19). It is distinct from “healthy” joy and laughter (Ps 126:2; Job 8:21). The connotation of “frivolous merrymaking” fits this context best.

[2:2]  ²² tn The term שִׂמְחָה (simkhah, “pleasure”) has a two-fold range of meanings in Ecclesiastes: (1) it can refer to the enjoyment of life that Qoheleth affirms is good (5:17; 8:15; 9:7; 11:8, 9) and that God gives to those who are pleasing to him (2:26; 5:19); and (2) it can refer to foolish pleasure, that is, frivolous merrymaking (2:1, 2; 7:4). The parallelism between שִׂמְחָה and שְׂחוֹק (sÿkhoq, “laughter, frivolous merrymaking”) in 2:2 suggests that the pejorative sense is in view here.

[2:2]  ²³ tn Heb “What does it accomplish?” The rhetorical question “What does it accomplish?” expects a negative answer: “It accomplishes nothing!” (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 949–51). See, e.g., Gen 1:19; 18:14, 17; Deut 7:17; 1 Sam 2:25; Job 40:2; Pss 56:7[8]; 90:11; 94:16; 106:2; Eccl 3:21.

[7:3]  ²⁴ tn NEB suggests “grief”; NJPS, “vexation.”

[7:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “in sadness of face there is good for the heart.”

[7:3]  ²⁶ tn Or possibly “Though the face is sad, the heart may be glad.”

[7:6]  ²⁷ tn The term “thorns” (הַסִּירִים, hassirim) refers to twigs from wild thorn bushes which were used as fuel for quick heat, but burn out quickly before a cooking pot can be properly heated (e.g., Pss 58:9; 118:12).

[7:6]  ²⁸ tn The word “kind of folly” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[7:6]  ²⁹ tn It is difficult to determine whether the Hebrew term הֶבֶל (hevel) means “fleeting” or “useless” in this context. The imagery of quick-burning thorns under a cooking pot is ambiguous and can be understood in more than one way: (1) It is useless to try to heat a cooking pot by burning thorns because they burn out before the pot can be properly heated; (2) the heat produced by quick-burning thorns is fleeting – it produces quick heat, but lasts only for a moment. Likewise, the “laughter of a fool” can be taken in both ways: (1) In comparison to the sober reflection of the wise, the laughter of fools is morally useless: the burning of thorns, like the laughter of fools, makes a lot of noise but accomplishes nothing; (2) the laughter of fools is fleeting due to the brevity of life and certainty of death. Perhaps this is an example of intentional ambiguity.

[4:9]  ³⁰ tn This term and the following one are preceded by καί (kai) in the Greek text, but contemporary English generally uses connectives only between the last two items in such a series.

[4:9]  ³¹ tn Grk “let your laughter be turned.”