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Matthew 19:24

in Matthew 19

Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And again I say unto you, 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.

KJV

And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

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This verse in Matthew 19

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 420.

on Matthew 19:24-26

According to this, no rich man can be saved. But if we read Isaiah, how the camels of Midian and Ephah came to Jerusalem with gifts and presents, and they who once were crooked and bowed down by the weight of their sins, enter the gates of Jerusalem, we shall see how these camels, to which the rich are likened when they have laid aside the heavy load of sins, and the distortion of their whole bodies, may then enter by that narrow and strait way that leads to life.

This site's exposition

shall hardly enter into the kingdom

on Matthew 19:23-24

A rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven, sharpened by the camel and the needle's eye, is read two ways in the tradition: a late suggestion that a small gate in Jerusalem's wall was nicknamed the needle's eye, through which an unladen camel could barely stoop, and the bench notes this reading has no support earlier than the ninth century and likely softens a deliberately impossible image; the plainer reading takes the largest common animal and the smallest common opening as Jesus' own hyperbole for a natural impossibility, matching the disciples' own reaction in the next verse. Kingdom of God appears here rather than Matthew's usual kingdom of heaven, one of only five such uses in the Gospel, without altering the saying's force.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

A camel - Instead of καμηλον, camel, six MSS. read καμιλον, cable, a mere gloss inserted by some who did not know that the other was a proverb common enough among the people of the east. There is an expression similar to this in the Koran. “The impious, who in his arrogance shall accuse our doctrine of falsity, shall find the gates of heaven shut: nor shall he enter there till a camel shall pass through the eye of a needle. It is thus that we shall recompense the wicked.” Al Koran. Surat vii. ver.

The words behind it

19 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

9 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

John 5:44How can you believe if you accept glory from one another, yet do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?10 worksMatthew 7:21Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.10 worksMatthew 23:24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.9 worksLuke 18:25Indeed, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”8 worksMark 10:24–25And the disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!7 worksJeremiah 13:23Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good—you who are accustomed to doing evil.6 works
The other 3 cross-references, with their words ▾
Matthew 19:26Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”6 worksActs 14:22strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.1 worksJohn 21:25There are many more things that Jesus did. If all of them were written down, I suppose that not even the world itself would have space for the books that would be written.-4 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Matthew 19:26

    Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 32:27

      “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?

    • Luke 1:37

      For no word from God will ever fail.”

    • Job 42:2

      “I know that You can do all things and that no plan of Yours can be thwarted.

    • Mark 10:27

      Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

    • Luke 18:27

      But Jesus said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

  • Through

    John 5:44

    How can you believe if you accept glory from one another, yet do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

    it leads to

    • John 12:43

      For they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

    • Romans 2:29

      No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come…

  • Through

    Jeremiah 13:23

    Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good—you who are accustomed to doing evil.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 2:22

      Although you wash with lye and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before Me,” declares the Lord GOD.

Where this verse is studied

About Matthew

John the Baptist Baptizes Jesus — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)
John the Baptist Baptizes Jesus — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)
Matthew: the study guide →Read Matthew 19 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas and John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament.

Read on in Matthew 19 →