Neat Link: The Comic in the Hebrew Bible

Under the rubric of neat links, check out Simon Holloway's recent post on "The Hillarious Hebrew Bible."

Drawing on the story of Cain and Abel, Holloway gives his own neat example of biblical wit: Does Cain pull a humorous fast-one on God in Genesis 4:16? How come he gets to settle down in the land of Nod, when God has condemned him never to settle in Genesis 4:12?

Holloway explains: God is effectively telling Cain to be a wanderer [Hebrew root: nud נוד] and Cain is responding by dwelling in a land called Nod / "Wander" [Hebrew root: nud נוד]. A "Wanderer" [nudge, nudge] he shall indeed be for the rest of his days.