18:25

easier . . . for a camel to get through the eye of a sewing needle: Jesus uses hyperbole to illustrate a point. Just as a literal camel cannot go through the eye of a needle, it is impossible for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God if he continues to put his riches ahead of his relationship with Jehovah. Jesus did not mean that no wealthy person would inherit the Kingdom, for he went on to say: “The things impossible with men are possible with God.” (Lu 18:27) In the Christian Greek Scriptures, the Greek word be·loʹne, rendered “sewing needle,” is used only here. It was sometimes used to refer to a surgical needle, whereas the Greek word rha·phisʹ, translated “needle,” is found in the parallel accounts at Mt 19:24 and Mr 10:25 and is drawn from a verb meaning “to sew.”