Matthew 19:24
in Matthew 19Again 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
21 notes on this verseAccording 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
it is hard for a rich man to enter
on Matthew 19:23-24
A later idea made the needle's eye a gate in Jerusalem's wall, which has no support before the ninth century. The plain sense takes the largest animal and smallest opening as a natural impossibility. Verse 24 says kingdom of God where Matthew usually writes kingdom of heaven.
This site's exposition
a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
Adam Clarke reports that six manuscripts read cable for camel, a change of one Greek letter made by copyists who missed the proverb. He cites a similar saying in the Koran. John Wesley calls the saying an absolute impossibility in human terms.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
The arrogant young man, when told to make good his failure to obey the law, is downcast and sad. To the people of which he is a prototype, the cross and Passion are a stumbling block. There is no salvation for this young man there. But he glories in the law, despises the Gentiles and refuses to cross into the freedom of the gospel; therefore it will be difficult for him to enter the kingdom of heaven. For few of them—and compared with the multitude of the Gentiles they are very rare—were those Jews who would believe. It was difficult for them to bend their will, long hardened under the law, to the gospel's preaching of humility. But more easily will the camel pass through the eye of a needle. A camel cannot fit into the eye of a needle, nor can the bulk of the huge beast be received by the narrow mouth of the tiny hole. In the beginning of this book in discussing John's clothing I pointed out that the camel signifies the Gentiles. For this beast obeys the word, is restrained by fear, is tolerant of fasting and kneels to take on its burden with a kind of ordered discipline. In this comparison the wildness of the Gentiles has been tamed by obedience to God's commandments. These then enter the very narrow path of the heavenly kingdom, that is, the needle, which is the preaching of the gospel word. By it the wounds of the body are stitched together, the torn clothing is rewoven, and death itself is pricked. Therefore this is the route of this new preaching. Into it the weakness of the Gentiles will enter with less difficulty than the opulence of the rich man, that is, of the one taking pride in the law.
To have riches is no sin; but moderation is to be observed in our havings. For how shall we communicate to the necessities of the saints, if we have not out of what we may communicate? It is a dangerous toil to become rich; and guiltlessness occupied in increasing its wealth has taken upon itself a sore burden; the servant of God gains not the things of the world, clear of the sins of the world. Hence is the difficulty of entering the kingdom of heaven.
(Verse 24 and following) And again I say to you: It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, 'Who then can be saved?' But Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.' This statement shows that it is not difficult, but impossible. For if a camel cannot enter through the eye of a needle, so a rich person cannot enter the kingdom of heaven, no rich person will be saved. But if we read Isaiah, how the camels of Midian and Ephah come to Jerusalem with gifts and offerings (Isa. 60): and how those who were previously bent and distorted by the corruption of vices enter the gates of Jerusalem, we will see how even these camels, to whom the rich are compared, when they have unloaded the heavy burden of sins and the corruption of the whole body, are able to enter through the narrow gate and the narrow way that leads to life (Above 7). But when the disciples asked and were amazed at the severity of his words, he tempered the severity of his statement with his mercy, saying: What is impossible for men is possible for God.
The Gentile souls are likened to the deformed body of the camel, in which is seen the humpback of idolatry; for the knowledge of God is the exaltation of the soul. The needle is the Son of God, the fine point of which is His divinity, and the thicker part what He is according to His incarnation. But it is altogether straight and without turning; and through the womb of His passion, the Gentiles have entered into life eternal. By this needle is sewn the robe of immortality; it is this needle that has sewn the flesh to the spirit, that has joined together the Jews and the Gentiles, and coupled man in friendship with angels. It is easier therefore for the Gentiles to pass through the needle's eye, than for the rich Jews to enter into the kingdom of heaven. For if the Gentiles are with such difficulty withdrawn from the irrational worship of idols, how much more hardly shall the Jews be withdrawn from the reasonable service of God?
But having said it was hard; as He proceeds, He shows that it is even impossible, and not merely impossible, but even in the highest degree impossible; and this He showed by the comparison concerning the camel and the needle. "It is easier" saith He, "for a camel to enter in by the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of Heaven." Whence it is shown, that there is no ordinary reward for them that are rich, and are able to practise self command. Wherefore also He affirmed it to be a work of God, that He might show that great grace is needed for him who is to achieve this.
13 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church5 voices
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Septem Donis, Collation 9 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
"Gifts blind the eyes of the wise and alter the words of the just." They blind the eyes, not bodily, but spiritual; therefore they take away the light of wisdom. "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than …
(Mor. xxxv. 16.) Or, by the rich man He intends any one who is proud, by the camel he denotes the right humility. The camel passed through the needle's eye, when our Redeemer through the narrow way of suffering entered in to the taking upon Him death; for that passion was as a needle which pricked the body with pain. But the camel enters the needle's eye easier than the rich man enters the kingdom of heaven; because if He had not first shown us by His passion the form of His humility, our proud stiffness would never have bent itself to His lowliness.
(ap. Anselm.) It is explained otherwise; That at Jerusalem there was a certain gate, called, The needle's eye, through which a camel could not pass, but on its bended knees, and after its burden had been taken off; and so the rich should not be able to pass along the narrow way that leads to life, till he had put off the burden of sin, and of riches, that is, by ceasing to love them.
He adds something which seems to pertain to impossibility; hence he says and again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Above …
Then said Jesus unto His disciples, Verily I say unto you, That it is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, (a proverbial expression, ) than for a rich man to go through the strait gate: that is, humanly speaking, it is an absolute impossibility.
And again I say unto you,....
Christ did not take his leave of Galilee till he had done his work there, and then he departed thence. Note, As Christ's faithful ministers are not taken out of the world, so they are not removed from any place, till they have finished their testimony in that place, Rev. xi.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
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 first thing that we learn in these verses is the immense danger which riches bring on the souls of those who possess them. The Lord Jesus declares that “a rich man shall hardly enter the kingdom of heaven.” He goes even further.
The first thing that we learn in these verses is the immense danger which riches bring on the souls of those who possess them. The Lord Jesus declares that “a rich man shall hardly enter the kingdom of heaven.” He goes even further. He uses a proverbial saying to strengthen his assertion: “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” Few of our Lord’s sayings sound more startling than this; few run more counter to the opinions and prejudices of mankind; few are so little believed; yet this saying is true, and worthy of all acceptation. Riches, which all desire to obtain—riches, for which men labor and toil and become gray before their time—riches are the most perilous possession. They often inflict great injury on the soul; they lead men into many temptations; they engross men’s thoughts and affections; they bind heavy burdens on the heart, and make the way to heaven even more difficult than it naturally is. Let us beware of the love of money. It is possible to use it well, and do good with it; but for one who makes a right use of money, there are thousands who make a wrong use of it, and do harm both to themselves and others. Let the worldly man, if he will, make an idol of money, and count him happiest who has most of it. But let theChristian, who professes to have “treasure in heaven” set his face, like a flint, against the spirit of the world in this matter. Let him not worship gold. He is not the best man in God’s eyes who has most money, but he who has most grace. Let us pray daily for rich men’s souls. They are not to be envied, they are deeply to be pitied. They carry heavy weights in the Christian course; they are of all men the least likely so to run as to obtain.( 1 Corinthians 9:24 ). Their prosperity in this world is often their destruction in the world to come.
Modern Voices2 voices
Only the Christian Church can offer any rational objection to a complete confidence in the rich. For she has maintained from the beginning that the danger was not in man's environment, but in man. Further, she has maintained that if we come to talk of …
Instead of looking at books and pictures about the New Testament I looked at the New Testament. There I found an account, not in the least of a person with his hair parted in the middle or his hands clasped in appeal, but of an …
The words behind it
19 Greek wordsEvery 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.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Πάλιν | palin | Again | G3825 → | 139 times |
| δὲ | de | now | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| λέγω | lego | I say | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| ὑμῖν· | humin | to you; | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| εὐκοπώτερόν | eukopoteron | easier for | G2123 → | |
| ἐστιν | estin | [it] is | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| κάμηλον | kamelon | a camel | G2574 → | 6 times |
| διὰ | dia | through [the] | G1223 → | 664 times |
| τρυπήματος | trupematos | an eye | G5169 → | |
| ῥαφίδος | rhaphidos | of a needle | G4476 → | |
| διελθεῖν | dielthein | to go through | G1330 → | |
| ἢ | e | than | G2228 → | 342 times |
| πλούσιον | plousion | a rich man | G4145 → | 28 times |
| εἰσελθεῖν | eiselthein | to enter | G1525 → | 194 times |
| εἰς | eis | into | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| τὴν | ten | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| βασιλείαν | basileian | kingdom | G932 → | 162 times |
| τοῦ | tou | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| θεοῦ.¶ | theou | of God. | G2316 → | 1312 times |
ΠάλινAgain
palinG3825 →139 times
δὲnow
deG1161 →2765 times
λέγωI say
legoG3004 →1325 times
ὑμῖν·to you;
huminG4771 →2973 times
εὐκοπώτερόνeasier for
eukopoteronG2123 →
ἐστιν[it] is
estinG1510 →2333 times
κάμηλονa camel
kamelonG2574 →6 times
διὰthrough [the]
diaG1223 →664 times
τρυπήματοςan eye
trupematosG5169 →
ῥαφίδοςof a needle
rhaphidosG4476 →
διελθεῖνto go through
dieltheinG1330 →
ἢthan
eG2228 →342 times
πλούσιονa rich man
plousionG4145 →28 times
εἰσελθεῖνto enter
eiseltheinG1525 →194 times
εἰςinto
eisG1519 →1755 times
τὴνthe
tenG3588 →19766 times
βασιλείανkingdom
basileianG932 →162 times
τοῦ<the>
touG3588 →19766 times
θεοῦ.¶of God.
theouG2316 →1312 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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 19:26Jesus 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.”
- Jeremiah 32:27
Through
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?
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…
- John 12:43
Through
Jeremiah 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.
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.
- Jeremiah 2:22
Where this verse is studied
About Matthew
This page draws on 20 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 9; GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy, Ch. VII: The Eternal Revolution; GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy, Ch. 9: Authority and the Adventurer (1908); Glossa Ordinaria, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Gregory the Dialogist, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on Matthew 19.10-11; Hilary of Poitiers, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Jerome, Commentary on Matthew; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 63; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Pseudo-Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Matthew and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Matthew.