wcsa@iwsgw.att.com (Willard Smith) (05/02/91)
Several individuals have commented on "Camels" and "The Eye of a Needle"
advocating the interpretation of the Eye as a Small door in which it was
possible, albeit difficult, for a camel to pass.
This has gone the rounds before, I would like to point out a couple of
things. First, the "Small Door" apparently wasn't built until long after
the Gospels were written. Second, there have been some attempts to argue
that the phrase has been mistranslated. Apparently the Aramaic term for
rope or cable is very close the the term that was eventually rendered into
the Greek word for camel and "a rope [or cable] through the eye of a needle"
was a well know Aramaic idiom of the time.
Finally, I think that one trying to take the passage in a literal sense
by trying to use the cable, rope, or door as an "out" actually does damage
to the original intent. That Jesus used exaggeration as a method of
instruction has been long recognized, there is even a set of "canons"
which are used to determine whether or not exaggeration was intended, and
this passage falls within that set of rules. I have been led to understand
that there are many places in ancient Jewish literature where exaggeration
of exactly this type were found, not only camels through the eye of a needle,
but also "elephants" through the eye of a needle.
For a good discussion of the use of exaggeration by Jesus and throughout the
scriptures, may I recommend the second part of _Difficult Passages in the New
Testament_ by Robert H. Stein, Published by Baker.
--
Willard C. Smith att!cbnewsc!iwsgw!wcsa wcsa@iwsgw.att.com
"It's life, Captain, but not as we know it."