Broadus on Puns

Next to my enjoyment of puns themselves is the delight in finding so many worthies of the past extolling the virtue of puns. I should have been collecting these statements along the way, but here is one recently sent to me by Greg Wills. John Broadus, whom Spurgeon deemed the “greatest of living preachers,” second president of Southern Seminary, said of puns:

A pun now is regarded almost with contempt, but it was not so in ancient times. Punning was very common and indulged in by the best writers and speakers. Really, the Bible is full of puns. Jesus said to Peter, ‘Thou art a rock (petros) and on this rock (petra), etc.’ Other examples are Luke xxi, 11; Heb. v, 8; Rom. i, 29 and 30; 2 Cor. ix, 8; x, 12; Matt. xxi, 41; Gal. v, 7; Rom. i, 20; Phil. iii, 2; 2 Thes. iii, 11; Acts viii, 30; Rom. xii, 3.”

(Seminary Magazine, April 1, 1891, p.157)

 

Nice!

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