KJV: For 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.
YLT: for it is easier for a camel through the eye of a needle to enter, than for a rich man into the reign of God to enter.'
Darby: for it is easier for a camel to enter through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
ASV: For it is easier for a camel to enter in through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
| εὐκοπώτερον | Easier |
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Parse: Adjective, Nominative Neuter Singular, Comparative Root: εὔκοπος Sense: with easy labour. |
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| ἐστιν | it is |
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Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular Root: εἰμί Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present. |
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| κάμηλον | a camel |
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Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular Root: κάμηλος Sense: camel. |
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| διὰ | through |
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Parse: Preposition Root: διά Sense: through. |
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| τρήματος | an eye |
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Parse: Noun, Genitive Neuter Singular Root: τρῆμα Sense: a hole, (eye of the needle). |
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| βελόνης | of a needle |
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Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: βέλος Sense: a missile, dart, javelin, arrow. |
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| εἰσελθεῖν | to go |
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Parse: Verb, Aorist Infinitive Active Root: εἰσέρχομαι Sense: to go out or come in: to enter. |
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| ἢ | than |
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Parse: Conjunction Root: ἤ Sense: either, or, than. |
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| πλούσιον | a rich man |
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Parse: Adjective, Accusative Masculine Singular Root: πλούσιος Sense: wealthy, abounding in material resources. |
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| εἰς | into |
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Parse: Preposition Root: εἰς Sense: into, unto, to, towards, for, among. |
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| βασιλείαν | kingdom |
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Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular Root: βασιλεία Sense: royal power, kingship, dominion, rule. |
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| τοῦ | - |
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Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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| Θεοῦ | of God |
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Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: θεός Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities. |
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| εἰσελθεῖν | to enter |
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Parse: Verb, Aorist Infinitive Active Root: εἰσέρχομαι Sense: to go out or come in: to enter. |
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Greek Commentary for Luke 18:25
Both words are old. Τρημα Trēma means a perforation or hole or eye and in the N.T. only here and Matthew 19:24. ελονη Belonē means originally the point of a spear and then a surgeon‘s needle. Here only in the N.T. Mark 10:25; Matthew 19:24 have ραπιδος rhaphidos for needle. This is probably a current proverb for the impossible. The Talmud twice speaks of an elephant passing through the eye of a needle as being impossible. [source]
See on Matthew 19:24. [source]
Rev., more literally, to enter in through a needle's eye. Both Matthew and Mark use another word for needle ( ῥαφίς ); see on Mark 10:25. Luke alone has βελόνη , which, besides being an older term, is the peculiar word for the surgical needle. The other word is condemned by the Greek grammarians as barbarous. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 18:25
See on Mark 10:25; and Luke 18:25. Compare the Jewish proverb, that a man did not even in his dreams see an elephant pass through the eye of a needle. The reason why the camel was substituted for the elephant was because the proverb was from the Babylonian Talmud, and in Babylon the elephant was common, while in Palestine it was unknown. The Koran has the same figure: “The impious shall find the gates of heaven shut; nor shall he enter there till a camel shall pass through the eye of a needle.” Bo-chart, in his history of the animals of scripture, cites a Talmudic passage: “A needle's eye is not too narrow for two friends, nor is the world wide enough for two enemies.” The allusion is not to be explained by reference to a narrow gate called a needle's eye. [source]
Jesus, of course, means by this comparison, whether an eastern proverb or not, to express the impossible. The efforts to explain it away are jejune like a ship‘s cable, καμιλον kamilon or ραπις rhaphis as a narrow gorge or gate of entrance for camels which recognized stooping, etc. All these are hopeless, for Jesus pointedly calls the thing “impossible” (Matthew 19:26). The Jews in the Babylonian Talmud did have a proverb that a man even in his dreams did not see an elephant pass through the eye of a needle (Vincent). The Koran speaks of the wicked finding the gates of heaven shut “till a camel shall pass through the eye of a needle.” But the Koran may have got this figure from the New Testament. The word for an ordinary needle is ραπις rhaphis but, Luke (Luke 18:25) employs βελονη belonē the medical term for the surgical needle not elsewhere in the N.T. [source]
A word stigmatized by the grammarians as unclassical. One of them (Phrynichus) says, “As for ῥαφίς , nobody would know what it is.” Matthew also uses it. See on Matthew 19:24. Luke uses βελόνης , the surgical needle. See on Luke 18:25. [source]