In the times of Jesus an eye of a needle was not a literal needle but something else.
2007-12-29 14:06:38 · 17 answers · asked by Grace F 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
It was a long narrow passage in a mountainous area. It was hard to get a loaded camel through.
http://www.shamar.org/articles/camel-needle.php
2007-12-29 14:09:12 · answer #1 · answered by PROBLEM 7 · 3⤊ 3⤋
The eye of the needle was actually a gate leading into a city. It was a gate that was made much smaller than the rest. So small infact that it was necessary for a camel to scrunch down to enter it. It was a difficult process and provided partial safety against night time raids by enemies. All of the other gates would have been locked and sealed at night. It was only this small opening that was left for possible wayfarers coming in late.
2007-12-29 14:13:52 · answer #2 · answered by Poohcat1 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It was an arch in the gateway to a place or town.
A camel had to bend down very low to get thru
the opening which was difficult for a camel to do.
So, the passage in the Bible was talking about
something that would be difficult to do (as hard
as a camel going through this gateway that looked
like the eye of a needle) but not impossible.
2007-12-29 14:11:39 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
The teacher Jesus ,was asked ",What must a rich man do to get to heaven.". Jesus replied," It is as hard for a rich man to get to heaven ,as it is for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle!" Jesus spoke in the day of his time,and there was a pass in the mountains called"The eye of the needle".. There, in order to get through this part of the mountain, The pack camels had to be unloaded, and re-loaded once they went through it..The people listening to Jesus said "Well then Its impossible for a rich man to get to heaven..( They thought he was saying a sewing needle) Jesus replied" Difficult yes, with God , nothing is impossible"! Jesus spoke many things of which the poor and illiterate people did not understand, it was only after years of interpretation of what he said , did the true meanings become apparent!! SOLOMON
2007-12-29 14:24:31 · answer #4 · answered by solomon 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure about Jesus being figurative or not, but what the original texts read was "It is easier for a camel's HAIR to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven." Not an entire camel, but the hair of a camel. The figurative archway that others are speaking of was actually built after Jesus' time, in order to "bring to life" this saying. It was known as the Camel Gate.
2007-12-29 14:14:22 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
It was a low and narrow passage (or gate) in the wall surrounding the city of Jerusalem which required that camels loaded with cargo would have to be stripped before entering the city...and proceed forward slowly and humped low to the ground in order to enter ..... this was very laborous....and required the baggage to taken off before entry.
So likewise, (In Jesus's analogy) ...a rich man would literally have to be stripped of his ATTACHMENT to wealth before he could enter the kingdom.
It doesn't mean he couldn't enter with wealth....but only that he couldn't remain attached to it....and get thru the gate.....a proceedure which was hard to do..
Thus Jesus said, "It is easy to go thru the eye of a needle than to get a rich men into the kingdom".
2007-12-29 14:18:49 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
He spoke of a literal needle.
Later there was a short doorway made in a wall for something or other. It was about the hight of a camel laying down, but this is something different. I think this came even after Jesus died.
The idea is, it's impossible to follow God, yet be consumed by wealth. Why do you need God when you have money?
2007-12-29 14:12:32 · answer #7 · answered by Sam64 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Back in that day it usually referred to the small door at the entrance to a city, next to the big gate used for animals and wagons. The small door was just barely large enough for a person to walk through and a camel would have to get down and crawl, on its "knees" so to speak, through that gate and it was extremely difficult and rare for a camel to enter through the small door. This is what my Grandmother has explained to me, and she was a teacher for many years and she is well versed in religion, and Biblical History.
2007-12-29 14:18:32 · answer #8 · answered by sandman858 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It was supposedly an undersized gate into the city of Jerusalem, except that no one has found any architectural evidence for such a gate. More likely the proverb was mistranslated. In Aramaic, "gamel"(camel) is very similar to "gamla" (cable or thick rope).
2007-12-29 14:16:27 · answer #9 · answered by skepsis 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have heard it preached that the eye of a needle was the actual paddock opening of the corral that the camel was being penned in.
It was supposedly very very small
2007-12-29 14:11:13 · answer #10 · answered by herenthere 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It was. It was a joke-namely,
Can you imagine a camel trying to go through the eye of a needle?
In Biblical times, I'm sure that that was very amusing!
2007-12-29 14:09:30 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋