Some believe that Jewish humor goes back into biblical times.

For example, puns can be found throughout the Tower of Babel section of the Genesis and the Joseph story of the Exodus.

The bible also maintains a ‘trickster theme’ which is evidenced in sections such as when Abraham passes Sarah off as his sister in Gerar to the King Abimelech. It is ironic because Sarah is in fact Abraham’s half sister. This trickster theme is also evident when Laban tricks Jacob into marrying Rachel instead of Leah and when Jacob steals Esau’s birthright with a bowl of soup.

Abraham and Sarah’s son Isaac also has a name based on the Hebrew verb meaning “to laugh”.