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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comVincent Word Studies - Matthew 19:24 - 19:24
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Camel - through a needle's eye (κάμηλον διά τρύπηματος ῥαφίδος)
See on Mar 10:25; and Luk 18:25. Compare the Jewish proverb, that a man did not even in his dreams see an elephant pass through the eye of a needle. The reason why the camel was substituted for the elephant was because the proverb was from the Babylonian Talmud, and in Babylon the elephant was common, while in Palestine it was unknown. The Koran has the same figure: “The impious shall find the gates of heaven shut; nor shall he enter there till a camel shall pass through the eye of a needle.” Bo-chart, in his history of the animals of scripture, cites a Talmudic passage: “A needle's eye is not too narrow for two friends, nor is the world wide enough for two enemies.” The allusion is not to be explained by reference to a narrow gate called a needle's eye.