Needle

NEEDLE ne'-d'-l (rhaphis):

The word "needle" occurs only 3 times, namely, in the reference to Christ's use of the proverb: "It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God" (Matthew 19:24; Mark 10:25; Luke 18:25). This saying ought to be accepted in the same sense as Matthew 23:24, "Ye blind guides, that strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel!" Christ used them to illustrate absurdities. A rabbinical parallel is cited, "an elephant through a needle's eye." Some writers have attempted to show that rhaphis referred to a small gate of a walled oriental city. No evidence of such a use of the word exists in the terms applied today in Biblical lands to this opening. "Rich man" here has the connotation of a man bound up in his riches. If a man continues to trust in his earthly possessions to save him, it would be absurd for him to expect to share in the spiritual kingdom where dependence upon the King is a first requisite.

The fact that needles are not mentioned elsewhere in the Bible should not be taken to indicate that this instrument was not used. Specimens of bone and metal needles of ancient origin show that they were common household objects.

See CAMEL.

James A. Patch

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Bibliography Information

Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'NEEDLE'".  "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia".  1915.