Limericks about the Book of Genesis

If you want to examine the religious foundations of the Western world, you’d probably begin with the Book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, recognized by Christian, Jew, and Muslim alike.

Even if the other 65 books were lost, you’d still have enough mysterious material to contemplate for many years. From the Garden of Eden to the Flood of Noah, and the chronicles of the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, you have got a lot to unpack.

I’ve done a little unpacking of my own, followed by moments of meditation and respites of reflection. In the final analysis, it seems, there is no finality. The web of interpretations never ends.

For now, let’s just pause and enjoy a few limericks about the Book of Genesis.

(NOTE: This article first appeared in April 2019, most recently updated in January 2024, following a Cease and Desist letter from the Church of Jehova’s Witness, challenging my use of some artwork originally created for the Watchtower magazine. I have subsequently replaced that artwork.)

Hellbent on the Old Testament
I’m ashamed to confess my obsession of late
Hung up on Genesis, thought it was great
Not for the fact
But the mutual pact
Where man is obliged by an onerous weight

Here’s a limerick inspired by a passage from Genesis 2:24.

Childhood’s End
Detach from the source and in some sense your mother
Later connect with your self in the other
First there was leaving
And then there was cleaving
And now every soul is a sister or brother

The Tower of Babel has inspired paintings, novels, film and cartoons. And now this. I have my own interpretation of the legend, which should be clear from the following limericks.

The Tower of Babel
In Babyl a tower approaches the sky
And reaching for Heaven they gave it a try
But access was thwarted
And mankind’s been sorted
With too many methods to meet the Most High

The Omega Point
According to custom what rises converges
To one single point from a wide range of searches
But I saw them unravel
While building in Babel
Just look at the number of disparate churches

One of the most controversial and incomprehensible scenes of the Bible takes place in Genesis 22. The Binding of Isaac is almost too convoluted to approach with a limerick. But though I walketh not in the council of the ungodly, yet I limericize without restraint.

Father Abraham
There once was a nomad whose chances were slim
When Yahweh requested an errand so grim
But God cut a deal
And sometimes I feel
Like He needed us more than we needed Him

Salivating for Salvation
Enter the Eater of Sins with a spoon
In want of a snack in exchange for the boon
The price of a ticket
The ram in a thicket
The scapegoat then rises, as full as the moon

As the lineage of Abraham branches out—through Isaac, Jacob and Joseph—the stories grow increasingly family friendly, more palatable to both Disney viewers and limerick lovers.

Siblings in Beersheba
Young Jacob lent Isaac his arm for caressing
Then Esau came home to a rude dispossessing
And tragically flawed
But elected by God
The trickster made off with a coveted blessing

Power Exchange
Jacob in the cave in the wee morning hours
He and the angel who clashed like twin towers
But a gift was transmitted
When the angel submitted
A humble assumption of immanent powers