Needle
Needle
(Gr. ) occurs in the Bible only in the proverb “to pass through a needle’s eye” () (Mat 19:24; Mar 10:25; Luk 18:25); for which SEE CAMEL. Among the ancient Egyptians some needles were of bronze, from three to three and a half inches in length; but as few have been found, we are not able to form any opinion respecting their general size and quality, particularly of those used for fine work, which must have been of a very minute kind (Wilkinson, Anc. Eg. 2:345). SEE NEEDLEWORK.
The use of the needle as a female accomplishment may be traced up to the earliest times. It was an art in which the ladies of ancient Egypt particularly excelled, as do their descendants at the present day; and the Hebrew females also no doubt acquired great perfection in it during their residence in that country, as we read of the embroidery of the sacerdotal robes and curtains of the tabernacle (Exo 28:39; Exo 26:36); and also of “a prey of divers colors of needlework, of divers colors of needlework on both sides” (Jdg 5:30). That the ladies of Assyria and Babylonia also excelled in various kinds of needlework Layard has shown from the recently exhumed monuments of Nineveh (see Nineveh, etc., 2:315 sq.). In the British Museum may be seen some needles for sewing, made of bronze, taken from the Egyptian remains; there are likewise some spindles and netting-needles made of wood, nine inches to nine inches and a half in length; and also some skeins of thread, a portion of which is dyed of a reddish color. SEE EMBROIDERY.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Needle
used only in the proverb, “to pass through a needle’s eye” (Matt. 19:24; Mark 10:25; Luke 18:25). Some interpret the expression as referring to the side gate, close to the principal gate, usually called the “eye of a needle” in the East; but it is rather to be taken literally. The Hebrew females were skilled in the use of the needle (Ex. 28:39; 26:36; Judg. 5:30).
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Needle
NEEDLE.Although the needle is of prehistoric origin, having been made out of fish bones before the discovery of bronze, it is mentioned only in one passage in the Bible: It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, etc. (Mat 19:24 || Mar 10:25, Luk 18:25). The eye of a needle is, in Hebrew and Greek, called simply the hole, but in later Arabic it is also called the eye. Thus one modern Arab poet (Mcj. Ad. ii. 231) asks, What animal has its hoof in its head, and its eye in its tail? and another (ib. iii. 273) speaks of the eye which never tastes of sleep and is never filled with tears. The needle is often used as a symbol of self-neglect, in that it clothes all the world and itself remains naked (Burckhardt, 563).
The phrase cited above from the Gospels was used in the schools, with the substitution of an elephant for a camel, to express something which does not happen. Thus in Baba Meia, 38b, in the course of a discussion on dreams and their interpretation, R. Shesheth says to R. Amram, who had tried to convince him of something incredible: Perhaps you are from Pumbeditha [where there flourished a famous academy of the Babylonian Rabbis], where they can drive an elephant through the eye of a needlethat is, can prove that black is white. Similarly, Berakhoth, 55b: No one ever saw a golden palm, nor an elephant entering the eye of a needle. For other occurrences of the phrase, see Buxtorfs Lex. s.v. . [Note: The proposals that have been made to identify the needles eye with the small door in a large city gate, or to substitute cable () for camel (), have nothing in their favour. See Hastings DB iii. 505a, and Expos. Times, ix. (1898) 388, 474; A. Wright, Some N.T. Problems, 125.]
T. H. Weir.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Needle
ned’l (, rhaphs): 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 (Mat 19:24; Mar 10:25; Luk 18:25). This saying ought to be accepted in the same sense as Mat 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.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Needle
Mat 19:24; Mar 10:25; Luk 18:25
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Needle
from rhatpo, “to sew,” occurs in Mat 19:24; Mar 10:25.
akin to belos, “a dart,” denotes a sharp point, hence, “a needle,” Luk 18:25 (some mss. have No. 1).
Note: The idea of applying “the needle’s eye” to small gates seems to be a modern one; there is no ancient trace of it. The Lord’s object in the statement is to express human impossibility and there is no need to endeavor to soften the difficulty by taking the needle to mean anything more than the ordinary instrument. Mackie points out (Hastings’ Bib. Dic.) that “an attempt is sometimes made to explain the words as a reference to the small door, a little over 2 feet square, in the large heavy gate of a walled city. This mars the figure without materially altering the meaning, and receives no justification from the language and traditions of Palestine.”
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Needle
Mat 19:24 (b) The Lord uses this little article to illustrate the impossibility of entering Heaven by one’s own resources. The needle mentioned in Luk 18:25 is a surgeon’s needle, for Luke was a physician. The meaning, however, is the same in both cases. No one can be saved by his own merits, or assets, or resources, or religious activities. CHRIST only is the way to GOD.