The Rogue Tomato
Well-known member
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
I've seen this interpreted 4 ways.
I happen to believe the correct answer is #4. Jesus says it's easier, but we all know it's impossible. So, Jesus is saying it is IMPOSSIBLE for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. In fact, it is impossible for ANYONE to enter the kingdom of God. I say "anyone" because of what follows.
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
"If this is true, who can possibly be saved"?
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Notice Jesus didn't say, "with a rich man this is impossible". With MAN this is impossible.
(Historical note: There is no mention of any such gate/passage in any literature called "the eye of the needle" until about the 10th century, and no such gate is known today.)
I've seen this interpreted 4 ways.
- The "eye of a needle" is a narrow gate or passage where a camel would have to drop what it's carrying and kneel down to get through
- It's a monk's lunch (a saying meaning a scribe made an error) and the word should be cable, not camel (in the Greek there's only 1 letter difference)
- It's a mistranslation from the Aramaic, which again, refers to a cable used for ships, a cable way too thick to go through a needle's eye
- It says what it says, a camel and the eye of a sewing needle
I happen to believe the correct answer is #4. Jesus says it's easier, but we all know it's impossible. So, Jesus is saying it is IMPOSSIBLE for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. In fact, it is impossible for ANYONE to enter the kingdom of God. I say "anyone" because of what follows.
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
"If this is true, who can possibly be saved"?
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Notice Jesus didn't say, "with a rich man this is impossible". With MAN this is impossible.
(Historical note: There is no mention of any such gate/passage in any literature called "the eye of the needle" until about the 10th century, and no such gate is known today.)
