The Camel and the Eye of the Needle

(Mt 19:24, Mk 10:25, Lk 18:25)

"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." (Matthew 19:24).

For the last few centuries it has been fairly common Sunday school teaching that there was a gate in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus called “The Eye of the Needle” through which a camel could not pass unless it first had all its baggage stripped from its back and was led through on its knees.  After dark, when the main gates were shut, travellers or merchants would have to use this smaller gate, through which the camel could only enter unencumbered and crawling.  Great material for a sermon, with the human parallel of coming before God humbly, on our knees and without any baggage.  It is a good parable, but unfortunately without a shred of truth.  From at least the 15th century, and possibly as early as the 9th, this story has been told and expanded upon.   However, there is no evidence for such a gate ever being set in the walls of Jerusalem.

Turning to the Greek, there are some differences to note.  The needle in Matthew and Mark is rafic, while in Luke it is belone.  Both refer to needles used in sewing, although Luke's is more likely to be used by a physician than a seamstress.  It could of course be a misprint of the Greek. The suggestion is that the Greek word kamilos (camel) should actually be kamêlos, meaning 'cable, rope', as some late New Testament manuscripts1 actually transcribe.  Hence it is easier to thread a needle with a rope rather than for a rich man to enter the kingdom.  This is a nice, logical idea, but not quite right.

A known saying in Aramaic

The Aramaic word ‘gamla’ means both rope and camel, most likely because rope was made of camel hair and it was not uncommon to hear a difficult situation likened to threading a needle with a gamla.  An absurd, but entirely appropriate image of impossibility – trying to thread a needle with a thick rope.

George M Lamsa's Syriac-Aramaic Peshitta translation  has the word 'rope' in the main text but a footnote referring to Matthew 19:24 which states that the Aramaic word gamla means rope and camel.  Toma Audo, in his east-Syrian Syro-Arabic lexicon refers to ‘gamla’ as “the thick rope of boats.”   Similarly the 10th century Aramaic lexicographer Mar Bahlul further gives the meaning as a "a large rope used to bind ships.  What we have is simply a beautiful piece of Hebrew hyperbole, similar to the ludicrous idea of having a plank sticking out of one's eye while trying to remove a speck in someone else’s eye! 

Even so, the idea of camels trying to pass through needle eyes was not uncommon.  In fact, Jewish Talmudic literature uses a similar aphorism about an elephant passing through the eye of a needle, implying an unlikely or impossible task: "They do not show a man a palm tree of gold nor an elephant going through the eye of a needle."   Here the Talmud is referring to dreams and their interpretation, suggesting that people only dream about what is natural or possible, not what is unlikely or beyond imagination.
 
"… who can make an elephant pass through the eye of a needle."   In this instance, the illustration concerns a dispute between two rabbis, one of whom suggests that the other is speaking "things which are impossible".

The camel was the largest animal common in Israel, while in regions where the Babylonian Talmud was written, the elephant was the largest.  Hence the aphorism may have been simply culturally translated as ‘camel’ in Israel and as ‘elephant’ in regions outside of Israel.

The paradox, then, does not need to be explained away by making up the existence of a tiny Jerusalem gate; Jewish writings before Christ were already using "eye of the needle" to denote a very small place, "A needle's eye is not too narrow for two friends, but the world is not wide enough for two enemies."   The bizarre contrast between the small size of the needle's eye and the largest indigenous animal is to be preserved exactly for its improbability.

Jesus' hearers believed that wealth and prosperity were a sign of God's blessing (cf. Leviticus and Deuteronomy).  So their incredulity is in the sense of, "if the rich, who must be seen as righteous by God, because of their evident blessing, can't be saved, then who can be saved?"  The later church turned this around to portray wealth as a hindrance to salvation, which of course it can be – but no more so than other things we might become obsessed with and greedy for.   The message is that salvation may be impossible by human standards, but not for God and it comes from him alone.

Beyond the impossible is possible with God for, as elsewhere, a Jewish midrash records:  "The Holy One said, open for me a door as big as a needle's eye and I will open for you a door through which may enter tents and camels."   In other words God only needs us to open up a tiny crack to him and he will flood in to set up room enough for an ocean.  This is similar to the Talmudic use of two Hebrew letters, one representing God’s holiness ('Q' Qoph, as in qadôsh which means ‘holy') and another representing evil ('R' Resh, as in ra' meaning 'evil').  In a story used to teach the Hebrew alphabet and Jewish morals, it is said that 'q' has an opening so that should 'r' ever repent he may enter into God's holiness through the small opening!

The additional teaching about a small gate in the Jerusalem wall may seem harmless but it is not good scholarship or correct exegesis.  The exaggeration and contrast in size is deliberate in the saying and is not an excessive judgement on riches or poverty.  Jesus reflects on how hard it often is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God, not because wealth is automatically bad but because love of it gets in the way of relationship with him.  Riches can be a distraction and hard to share or give away if one is too attached to them.  The disciples' incredulity is that if even the rich (so obviously and abundantly blessed by God) cannot be saved, who can?  The verdict is that even the rich, not only the rich will find it impossible to save themselves – but at the heart of such matters, with God all things are possible.