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{{Short description|Metaphor for an unthinkable thought in Abrahamic religions}}
'''The eye of a needle''' is part of a phrase
]
⚫ attributed to ] by the ]:
] passing through the eye of a needle, as a symbol of the improbable ]. Engraving, Johann Vogel: ''Meditationes emblematicae de restaurata pace Germaniae'', 1649.]] The term "'''eye of a needle'''" is used as a metaphor for a very narrow opening. It occurs several times throughout the ]. The ] quotes Jesus as saying in Luke 18:25 that "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (]); This is repeated in the same words in Matthew 19:24 and Mark 10:25. It also appears in the ] 7:40, "Indeed, those who deny Our verses and are arrogant toward them – the gates of Heaven will not be opened for them, nor will they enter Paradise until a camel enters into the eye of a needle. And thus do We recompense the criminals."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Quran 7|url=https://m.clearquran.com/007.html|access-date=25 November 2020|website=]}}</ref>
], 1924]]


==Aphorisms==
⚫ :''...I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a ] to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the ].'' {{bibleverse||Matthew|19:24|NIV}}.
The parallel versions appear in ] 19:23-24, ] 10:24-25 and ] 18:24-25.


===Judaism===
The occasion of the saying, according to the ] writers, was after a rich young man had asked Jesus what he needed to do in order to inherit ]. Jesus replied that he should first, keep the commandments (he listed only those concerning duty to men), sell all his possessions, and give the money to the poor, and then to come, follow Jesus. Because of his great wealth, the young man was unwilling to do this. Jesus then turned to his disciples, and spoke this phrase to their astonishment, leading them to doubt that salvation was possible for anyone.
⚫ The ] applies the ] to unthinkable thoughts. To explain that dreams reveal the thoughts of a man's heart and are the product of reason rather than the absence of it, some ] say:


⚫ {{blockquote|They do not show a man a palm tree of gold, nor an elephant going through the eye of a needle.<ref>B.T. '']'' 55b</ref>}}
Some commentators have found it incredible to speak of a rich man's chance of being saved as being harder than threading a camel through a literal sewing implement. Consequently the phrase has inspired various interpretations.


⚫ A ] on the ] uses the phrase to speak of God's willingness and ability beyond comparison to accomplish the salvation of a sinner:
A popular explanation of the figure, dating back at least to the ], was that Jesus was referring to a well-known gate in ] called Needle's Eye, that was built so low that a camel could only pass if it entered kneeling and unencumbered with baggage. The lesson would then be that an eternal inheritance awaits those who unburden themselves of sin, and in particular, the things of this world. Although there is no historical evidence that such a gate ever existed, through frequent repetition the idea has attained the status of virtual dogma in some circles.


{{blockquote|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.<ref name=camel>{{cite web|title='The camel and the eye of the needle', Matthew 19:24, Mark 10:25, Luke 18:25|url=http://www.biblicalhebrew.com/nt/camelneedle.htm|work=Hebrew New Testament Studies|access-date=21 June 2011}}</ref>}}
Some scholars have suggested that the word ''camel'' is in fact a mistranslation of the Greek original, and should instead read ''rope''. On the weight of this, some English versions read "cable" instead of "camel".{{fact}} An obvious advantage of this is that it puts '''the eye of a needle''' in less ridiculous proportion compared to the threading material, and it still makes the point of how difficult it is to achieve salvation, although in much less colorful terms. However, there is no support for this reading in extant manuscripts; the observation that &kappa;&alpha;&mu;&iota;&lambda;&omicron;&sigmaf; (''camel'') differs by only one letter from &kappa;&alpha;&mu;&eta;&lambda;&omicron;&sigmaf; (''rope''), lent credibility to the speculation that the word in surviving texts might be a corruption of a lost version.


Rav ] of ] applied the same aphorism to the reasoning for which the sages of ] were evidently famous: "Are you from Pumbedita, where they push an elephant through the eye of a needle?" (], 38b).
The most common Christian interpretation is the explanation that Jesus himself gave to his disciples, according to the gospels. He told them that for any man looking to himself, salvation is not possible; but for God, all things are possible. The way is open, but it cannot be accessed by any human means, unless God should bring them in by an "impossible" way - impossible that is, for man - meaning, through Christ's death and resurrection. Christians also typically use the account of the rich young ruler, including this phrase, to teach about the deceitfulness of wealth and worldly prestige, and the duty of ].


===Christianity===
Interestingly, Islam turns the Christian idea on its head, teaching by the same phrase that paradise is closed to those who reject Islam, but following Islam makes salvation acheivable by man. The ] says:
]
{{main|Jesus and the rich young man}}
⚫ "The eye of a needle" is a portion of a quotation attributed to ] in the ]:


⚫ {{blockquote|"I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, 'Who then can be saved?' Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'<ref>{{bibleverse-lb||Matthew|19:23-26|NIV}}
⚫ : ''To those who reject Our signs and treat them with arrogance, no opening will there be of the gates of heaven, nor will they enter the garden, until the camel can pass through the eye of the needle: Such is Our reward for those in sin.'' (''Al-A'raf (The Heights) 7:40'')
Parallel versions appear in {{bibleverse-lb||Mark|10:24-27|NIV}}, and {{bibleverse-lb||Luke|18:24-27|NIV}}</ref>}}


The saying was a response to a ] who had asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus replied that he should keep the commandments, which the man replied that he had done so. Jesus responded, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." The young man became sad and was unwilling to do that. Jesus then spoke that response, leaving his disciples astonished.
⚫ If a camel passing through the needle's eye represents the impossible, the Babylonian Talmud goes even farther in applying the aphorism to unthinkable thoughts. To explain that dreams reveal the thoughts of a man's heart, the product of reason rather than the absence of it, the ]s say:


] (fragment 219) claimed that "camel" was a Greek scribal typo where {{langx|grc-x-biblical|]|kámēlos|camel}} was written in place of {{langx|grc-x-biblical|]|kámilos|rope' or 'cable}}.<ref name=camel /><ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Akademie-Verlag| last = Reuss| first = Joseph| title = Matthäus-Kommentare aus der griechischen Kirche| location = Berlin| date = 1957 |page=226 |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Matthew 14-28 |last=Simonetti |first=Manlio |date=2002 |publisher=InterVarsity Press |isbn=978-0-8308-1469-5 |location=Downers Grove, Ill. |language=en |oclc=47443858 |quote=By “camel” here he means not the living thing, the beast of burden, but the thick rope to which sailors tie their anchors. He shows this comparison to be not entirely pointless (as a camel would be), but he makes it an exceedingly difficult matter; in fact, next to impossible.}}</ref> More recently, ], in his ] into English from the Syriac, claimed the same.
⚫ :''They do not show a man a palm tree of gold, nor an elephant going through the eye of a needle. '' {{fn|1}}


], in '']'', Volume 1, § 68, quoted Matthew 19:24: "It is easier for an anchor cable to go through an eye of a needle than for a rich person to come to God's kingdom."{{efn|Original German: {{lang|de|"Es ist leichter, daß ein Ankertau durch ein Nadelöhr gehe, denn daß ein Reicher ins Reich Gottes komme."}}}}
⚫ A Midrash on the ] uses the phrase to speak of God's willingness and ability beyond comparison, to accomplish the salvation of a sinner:
:''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 ''{{fn|2}}


In modern times, the scripture has been used as a counterargument to the ], the belief that accruing wealth is a virtue favored by God.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Wealth, wages, and the wealthy: New testament insight for preachers and teachers |last=Collins |first=Raymond F. |publisher=Liturgical Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-8146-8785-7 |location=Collegeville, Minnesota |page=282 |oclc=983796136}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Blessed: A history of the American prosperity gospel |last=Bowler |first=Kate |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-19-087673-9 |location=New York |page=9 |oclc=1005124050}}</ref>
This imagery of unimaginably vast possessions following a man through the small opening of his initiative to seek salvation is comparable to what Jesus says in answer to his disciples' argument on their own behalf, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?". Jesus answered:


====Gate====
:''... everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.'' (''Matthew 19:29'')
The "Eye of the Needle" has been claimed to be a gate in ], which opened after the main gate was closed at night. A camel could not pass through the smaller gate unless it was stooped and had its baggage removed. The story has been put forth since at least the 11th century and possibly as far back as the 9th century. However, there is no widely accepted evidence for the existence of such a gate.<ref name=Rozienkow>Егор Розенков, ''Верблюд и игольное ушко'' // Духовный вестник высшей школы, No. 8 (24), 01.09.2007</ref><ref>{{Cite book | last = Morris | first = Leon | title = The Gospel according to Matthew | publisher = ] Inter-Varsity Press |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan Leicester, England | year = 1992 | isbn=978-0-8511-1338-8 | page = 493 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ziemińska |first=Agnieszka |date=2022-06-09 |title=The Origin of the 'Needle's Eye Gate' Myth: Theophylact or Anselm? |journal=New Testament Studies |language=en |volume=68 |issue=3 |pages=358–361 |doi=10.1017/S0028688521000448 |s2cid=249523713 |issn=0028-6885|doi-access=free }}</ref>


==Footnotes== ===Islam===
According to the English interpretation of the ]:
*{{fnb|1}}<br /> (referenced 15:16, 6 August 2005 (UTC))
*{{fnb|2}}Midrash Rabbah, The Song of Songs, 5.3; cf. Pesiqta R., 15, as cited in the online essay <br />(referenced 15:16, 6 August 2005 (UTC))


⚫ {{blockquote|To those who reject Our signs and treat them with arrogance, no opening will there be of the gates of heaven, nor will they enter the garden, until the camel can pass through the eye of the needle: Such is Our reward for those in sin.<ref>, </ref>}}
⚫ ]

The camel, in Arabic {{transl|ar|jamal}}, can also be translated as "twisted rope".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Asad|first=Muhammad|title=The Message of The Qur'án|title-link=The Message of The Qur'an|publisher=Dar al-Andalus Limited|year=1980|isbn=1904510000|location=Gibraltar, Spain|pages=|author-link=Muhammad Asad}} Footnote to the verse.</ref>

==See also==
* ]
* ], 5:1-6
* ]
* ], about the broad gate and the narrow gate
* ]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* from '']''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eye Of A Needle}}
⚫ ]
]
]
]
]
]
]

Latest revision as of 04:59, 8 December 2024

Metaphor for an unthinkable thought in Abrahamic religions
Eye of a needle
A dromedary camel passing through the eye of a needle, as a symbol of the improbable Peace of Westphalia. Engraving, Johann Vogel: Meditationes emblematicae de restaurata pace Germaniae, 1649.

The term "eye of a needle" is used as a metaphor for a very narrow opening. It occurs several times throughout the Talmud. The New Testament quotes Jesus as saying in Luke 18:25 that "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Jesus and the rich young man); This is repeated in the same words in Matthew 19:24 and Mark 10:25. It also appears in the Qur'an 7:40, "Indeed, those who deny Our verses and are arrogant toward them – the gates of Heaven will not be opened for them, nor will they enter Paradise until a camel enters into the eye of a needle. And thus do We recompense the criminals."

Mocking the religious metaphor in Soviet atheist magazine Bezbozhnik u Stanka, 1924

Aphorisms

Judaism

The Babylonian Talmud applies the aphorism to unthinkable thoughts. To explain that dreams reveal the thoughts of a man's heart and are the product of reason rather than the absence of it, some rabbis say:

They do not show a man a palm tree of gold, nor an elephant going through the eye of a needle.

A midrash on the Song of Songs uses the phrase to speak of God's willingness and ability beyond comparison to accomplish the salvation of a sinner:

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.

Rav Sheishet of Nehardea applied the same aphorism to the reasoning for which the sages of Pumbedita were evidently famous: "Are you from Pumbedita, where they push an elephant through the eye of a needle?" (Baba Metzia, 38b).

Christianity

A church portal relief in Dortmund referencing Jesus's use of "camel through the eye of a needle" aphorism
Main article: Jesus and the rich young man

"The eye of a needle" is a portion of a quotation attributed to Jesus in the synoptic gospels:

"I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, 'Who then can be saved?' Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'

The saying was a response to a young rich man who had asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus replied that he should keep the commandments, which the man replied that he had done so. Jesus responded, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." The young man became sad and was unwilling to do that. Jesus then spoke that response, leaving his disciples astonished.

Cyril of Alexandria (fragment 219) claimed that "camel" was a Greek scribal typo where Biblical Greek: κάμηλος, romanized: kámēlos, lit. 'camel' was written in place of Biblical Greek: κάμιλος, romanized: kámilos, lit. 'rope' or 'cable'. More recently, George Lamsa, in his 1933 translation of the Bible into English from the Syriac, claimed the same.

Arthur Schopenhauer, in The World as Will and Representation, Volume 1, § 68, quoted Matthew 19:24: "It is easier for an anchor cable to go through an eye of a needle than for a rich person to come to God's kingdom."

In modern times, the scripture has been used as a counterargument to the prosperity gospel, the belief that accruing wealth is a virtue favored by God.

Gate

The "Eye of the Needle" has been claimed to be a gate in Jerusalem, which opened after the main gate was closed at night. A camel could not pass through the smaller gate unless it was stooped and had its baggage removed. The story has been put forth since at least the 11th century and possibly as far back as the 9th century. However, there is no widely accepted evidence for the existence of such a gate.

Islam

According to the English interpretation of the Quran:

To those who reject Our signs and treat them with arrogance, no opening will there be of the gates of heaven, nor will they enter the garden, until the camel can pass through the eye of the needle: Such is Our reward for those in sin.

The camel, in Arabic jamal, can also be translated as "twisted rope".

See also

Notes

  1. Original German: "Es ist leichter, daß ein Ankertau durch ein Nadelöhr gehe, denn daß ein Reicher ins Reich Gottes komme."

References

  1. "Quran 7". Clear Quran. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  2. B.T. Berakhot 55b
  3. ^ "'The camel and the eye of the needle', Matthew 19:24, Mark 10:25, Luke 18:25". Hebrew New Testament Studies. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
  4. Matthew 19:23–26 Parallel versions appear in Mark 10:24–27, and Luke 18:24–27
  5. Reuss, Joseph (1957). Matthäus-Kommentare aus der griechischen Kirche (in German). Berlin: Akademie-Verlag. p. 226.
  6. Simonetti, Manlio (2002). Matthew 14-28. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press. ISBN 978-0-8308-1469-5. OCLC 47443858. By "camel" here he means not the living thing, the beast of burden, but the thick rope to which sailors tie their anchors. He shows this comparison to be not entirely pointless (as a camel would be), but he makes it an exceedingly difficult matter; in fact, next to impossible.
  7. Collins, Raymond F. (2017). Wealth, wages, and the wealthy: New testament insight for preachers and teachers. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press. p. 282. ISBN 978-0-8146-8785-7. OCLC 983796136.
  8. Bowler, Kate (2013). Blessed: A history of the American prosperity gospel. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-19-087673-9. OCLC 1005124050.
  9. Егор Розенков, Верблюд и игольное ушко // Духовный вестник высшей школы, No. 8 (24), 01.09.2007
  10. Morris, Leon (1992). The Gospel according to Matthew. Grand Rapids, Michigan Leicester, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Inter-Varsity Press. p. 493. ISBN 978-0-8511-1338-8.
  11. Ziemińska, Agnieszka (2022-06-09). "The Origin of the 'Needle's Eye Gate' Myth: Theophylact or Anselm?". New Testament Studies. 68 (3): 358–361. doi:10.1017/S0028688521000448. ISSN 0028-6885. S2CID 249523713.
  12. Al-Araf (The Heights) 7:40, Quran Surah Al-A'raaf ( Verse 40 )
  13. Asad, Muhammad (1980). The Message of The Qur'án. Gibraltar, Spain: Dar al-Andalus Limited. ISBN 1904510000. Footnote to the verse.

External links

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