The term "eye of a needle" is used as a metaphor for a very narrow opening. It occurs several times throughout the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

. The

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

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 Jesus and the rich young man (also called Jesus and the rich ruler) is an episode in the life of Jesus recounted in the Gospel of Matthew , the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament. It deals with eternal life and the worl ...

); This is repeated in the same words in Matthew 19:24 and Mark 10:25. It also appears in the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

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."

Aphorisms

Judaism

The

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...

applies the

aphorism An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by tra ...

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 A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as '' semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

say: A

midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...

on the

Song of Songs The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a Biblical poetry, biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, i ...

uses the phrase to speak of God's willingness and ability beyond comparison to accomplish the salvation of a sinner: Rav Sheishet of

Nehardea Nehardea or Nehardeah ( "river of knowledge") was a city from the area called by ancient Jewish sources Babylonia, situated at or near the junction of the Euphrates with the Nahr Malka (the Royal Canal), one of the earliest and most prominent ce ...

applied the same aphorism to the reasoning for which the sages of

Pumbedita Pumbedita ( ''Pūm Bəḏīṯāʾ'', "Mouth of the Bedita"See The river "Bedita" has not been identified.) was an ancient city located in modern-day Iraq. It is known for having hosted the Pumbedita Academy. History The city of Pumbedita was s ...

were evidently famous: "Are you from Pumbedita, where they push an elephant through the eye of a needle?" (

Baba Metzia Bava Metzia (, "The Middle Gate") is the second of the first three Talmudic tractates in the order of Nezikin ("Damages"), the other two being Bava Kamma and Bava Batra. Originally all three formed a single tractate called ''Nezikin'' (torts or ...

, 38b).

Christianity

"The eye of a needle" is a portion of a quotation attributed to

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

in the

synoptic gospels The gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Mark, and Gospel of Luke, Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical ...

: 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 Cyril of Alexandria (; or ⲡⲓ̀ⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲕⲓⲣⲓⲗⲗⲟⲥ; 376–444) was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He was enthroned when the city was at the height of its influence and power within the Roman Empire ...

(fragment 219) claimed that "camel" was a Greek scribal typo where was written in place of . More recently,

George Lamsa George Mamishisho Lamsa () (August 5, 1892 – September 22, 1975) was an Assyrian people, Assyrian author. He was born in Kara Kilise, Mar Bishu in what is now the extreme east of Turkey. A native Aramaic language, Aramaic speaker, he translated ...

, in his 1933 translation of the Bible into English from the Syriac, claimed the same.

Arthur Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( ; ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the Phenomenon, phenomenal world as ...

, in ''

The World as Will and Representation ''The World as Will and Representation'' (''WWR''; , ''WWV''), sometimes translated as ''The World as Will and Idea'', is the central work of the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. The first edition was published in late 1818, with the date ...

'', 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 Prosperity theology (sometimes referred to as the prosperity gospel, the health and wealth gospel, the gospel of success, seed-faith gospel, Faith movement, or Word-Faith movement) is a belief among some Charismatic Christians that financial bl ...

, 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 Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, 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.Егор Розенков, ''Верблюд и игольное ушко'' // Духовный вестник высшей школы, No. 8 (24), 01.09.2007

Islam

According to the English interpretation of the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

: The camel, in Arabic , can also be translated as "twisted rope". A poem by

Rumi Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (), or simply Rumi (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century poet, Hanafi '' faqih'' (jurist), Maturidi theologian (''mutakallim''), and Sufi mystic born during the Khwarazmian Empire ...

says:

''"The double end of thread is not for the eye of the needle: inasmuch as thou art single, come into the needle."'' '''Tis the thread that is connected with the needle: the eye of the needle is not suitable for the camel.''

Not connected to religion

The concept of a camel passing through the eye of a needle is also documented among the

Multani Multani may refer to: People With the surname * Ali Haider Multani (1690–1785), Punjabi Sufi poet * Ayn al-Mulk Multani, commander of the Delhi Sultanate in India * Har Karan Ibn Mathuradas Kamboh Multani, writer during the Mughal Empire Ethni ...

people of Pakistan, “A string of camels is passing through the needle’s eye!”p. 119. O’Brien, Edward. 1881. ''Glossary of the Multani Language Compared with Punjábi and Sindhi.'' Punjab, India: Punjabi Government Civil Secretariat Press. http://archive.org/details/glossarymultani00obrgoog. The source does not indicate if this saying was used in religious contexts.

Notes

References

External links

"What's the meaning of Jesus' teaching about the camel going through the eye of a needle?"
from ''

The Straight Dope ''The Straight Dope'' was a question-and-answer newspaper column written under the pseudonym Cecil Adams. Contributions were made by multiple authors, and it was illustrated (also pseudonymously) by Slug Signorino. It was first published in 197 ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Eye Of A Needle Doctrines and teachings of Jesus Biblical phrases Sewing Metaphors referring to objects Metaphors referring to camels Quranic words and phrases Animals in the Bible