There are sayings of Jesus that become so familiar that we sometimes stop hearing how startling they actually are. One of them appears in Matthew 19:24: “And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (NKJV).
Most Christians have probably heard the saying. Many have also heard explanations intended to make sense of it. Perhaps “the eye of a needle” was the name of a small gate in Jerusalem through which a camel could pass only after its load was removed and the animal knelt. Another explanation suggests that the Greek word translated “camel” should actually be understood as a rope or cable. Still others describe Jesus as exaggerating to show how extremely difficult it is for a wealthy person to enter the kingdom of God. But what happens if we set those explanations aside for a moment and start with what Matthew actually wrote?
That is where this investigation becomes interesting.
Begin With the Greek
Matthew 19:24 reads:
πάλιν δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν, εὐκοπώτερόν ἐστιν κάμηλον διὰ τρυπήματος ῥαφίδος εἰσελθεῖν ἢ πλούσιον εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ.
The important words are not particularly mysterious. Matthew uses κάμηλος (kamēlos), meaning “camel.” He describes the camel passing διὰ τρυπήματος ῥαφίδος (dia trypēmatos rhaphidos), through the opening or hole of a needle.
Our English expression “the eye of a needle” naturally describes that tiny opening. Matthew himself does not use an architectural term or identify a gate. He gives us a camel and the opening of a needle.
That does not settle every question surrounding the passage, but it gives us a safe place to begin.
Before asking what the camel symbolizes, let’s first allow the camel to remain a camel.
Was There an “Eye of the Needle” Gate?
A popular explanation says that Jerusalem contained a small gate called the “Eye of the Needle.” According to the story, a loaded camel could not simply walk through it. Its cargo first had to be removed, after which the camel had to kneel and squeeze through the narrow opening.
It makes for a memorable sermon illustration. The rich person must unload possessions, humble himself, kneel, and struggle through the narrow entrance.
One problem remains: the explanation lacks convincing historical evidence for such a gate in first-century Jerusalem. The NET Bible’s textual and study notes likewise identify the expression as a sewing-needle metaphor and state that no evidence shows such a Jerusalem gate existed.
More importantly for our investigation, nothing in Matthew’s Greek requires a gate. If a gate is introduced into the passage, it comes from outside the passage.
That does not automatically make an interpretation wrong. Historical and cultural information can illuminate Scripture. But when an interpretation depends upon historical information, we should be able to establish that information historically.
Another problem with the gate explanation also appears as we keep reading.
If the camel can eventually pass through the gate after being unloaded, made to kneel, and maneuvered carefully through the opening, then what Jesus described is extremely difficult—but it is not impossible.
Jesus is about to make that distinction himself.
What About a Rope Instead of a Camel?
Another explanation concerns the similarity between the Greek words κάμηλος (kamēlos), “camel,” and κάμιλος (kamilos), a word associated with a rope or cable. Under this proposal, Jesus may have originally referred to a thick rope passing through the eye of a needle rather than a camel.
Unlike the gate explanation, this proposal does have a textual history worth acknowledging. A few mostly late witnesses contain the “rope” reading. However, the manuscript evidence underlying the commonly used critical Greek texts supports κάμηλος—camel. The NET textual note similarly identifies the rope reading as occurring in a few, mostly late witnesses.
We do not need to reject the rope reading because it supposedly threatens biblical reliability. That would begin with a theological concern rather than the textual evidence. We can ask what the manuscripts support.
The stronger textual evidence gives us a camel.
Interestingly, even changing the camel into a rope does not really solve the problem. A thick cable still does not pass through the opening of an ordinary sewing needle. The object becomes smaller, but the absurdity remains.
We should stop trying to make the object fit and ask why Jesus chose an image that does not fit at all.
Verse 23 Comes Before the Camel
The key to understanding verse 24 may actually begin in verse 23. After the rich young man walks away sorrowful because he has great possessions, Jesus turns to His disciples and says:
“Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:23, NKJV). The Greek word translated “hard” is δυσκόλως (dyskolōs), conveying difficulty. That is important.
Jesus has already told His disciples that entering the kingdom is difficult for the rich man. He does not need a camel to communicate difficulty. He has just said it plainly.
Then verse 24 begins: πάλιν δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν (palin de legō hymin)—“And again I say to you.”
Jesus continues the thought.
Now comes the camel.
It is easier for a camel to pass through the opening of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.
If we interpret the camel merely as another way of saying “very difficult,” we may miss the progression Jesus is making. Verse 23 has already given us difficulty. Verse 24 intensifies the picture.
Then the disciples respond.
“Who Then Can Be Saved?”
Matthew tells us that the disciples were ἐξεπλήσσοντο σφόδρα (exeplēssonto sphodra)—greatly or exceedingly astonished.
Their question is revealing: Τίς ἄρα δύναται σωθῆναι; (Tis ara dynatai sōthēnai?) “Who then can be saved?” (Matthew 19:25).
Their question is no longer merely about wealth. They do not ask, “How can a rich person be saved?” They ask, “Who then can be saved?” The verb δύναται (dynatai) concerns ability: Who is able? Who can?
Jesus then looks at them and answers: Παρὰ ἀνθρώποις τοῦτο ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν, παρὰ δὲ θεῷ πάντα δυνατά. “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26, NKJV).
Now this progression is hard to overlook.
Verse 23 gives us difficulty.
Verse 24 gives us the camel and the needle.
Verse 25 asks about human ability.
Verse 26 answers with human impossibility and divine possibility.
The words themselves lead us through the argument.
Difficult Is Not the Same as Impossible
This is where the popular gate explanation becomes especially problematic.
Imagine that there really were a tiny gate through which a camel could pass after its cargo was removed—the camel kneels. The owner unloads everything. With enough effort, patience, and maneuvering, the animal finally squeezes through.
What have we demonstrated?
Difficulty.
But Jesus had already said that in verse 23. After the camel illustration, Jesus does not say, “With men this is extremely difficult.” He says: ἀδύνατον (adynaton)—impossible. And then He contrasts that impossibility with what is δυνατά (dynata)—possible—with God. The disciples ask who δύναται (dynatai)—is able—to be saved, and Jesus answers by distinguishing human inability from God’s ability.
The conversation interprets the illustration. Perhaps the camel was never supposed to get through the needle.
“Lord, We Shrank the Camel”
Sometimes our interpretations reveal something about us as readers. Jesus gives us a camel and a needle. The picture is impossible. So we begin looking for ways to make it work.
The needle may be a gate.
Maybe the camel kneels.
We could unload the camel.
Maybe the camel is really a rope.
Eventually we can almost imagine one of the disciples returning to Jesus with a much smaller animal: “Lord, we shrank the camel. It should fit now.”
But that may miss the point entirely. Jesus does not ask His disciples to figure out how to get the camel through the needle. He uses the impossible picture and then tells them where the possibility lies.
Not with the camel.
Not with human ingenuity.
Not with human achievement.
With God.
The camel cannot solve the camel’s problem.
Is This Passage Only About Rich People?
The conversation begins with a wealthy man, so riches clearly matter. The man asks Jesus, “What good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16). After further conversation, Jesus tells him to sell what he possesses, give to the poor, and follow Him. The man goes away sorrowful because he has great possessions.
His possessions have exposed something he was unwilling to surrender. Yet when Jesus speaks to the disciples, their response broadens the question. They do not ask only about wealthy people. They ask: “Who then can be saved?”
That should make us cautious about reducing the passage to a simple warning that rich people have a harder time getting into heaven than everyone else. The passage certainly warns about riches. Wealth can become something a person trusts, treasures, or refuses to surrender. But Jesus’ final statement reaches beyond the size of one man’s bank account.
“With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
The final contrast is between human ability and God’s ability.
Peter Is Still Listening
The conversation does not end in verse 26. Peter immediately responds: “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?” (Matthew 19:27, NKJV).
That is interesting. The rich man would not leave his possessions. Peter points out that the disciples have left theirs. But even here Jesus continues teaching. He speaks about what His followers will receive, and the section moves toward another reversal: “But many who are first will be last, and the last first” (Matthew 19:30, NKJV).
The conversation therefore concerns more than wealth. It reaches into what people trust, what they surrender, what they expect to receive, and how God’s kingdom overturns ordinary human measurements of status and achievement.
The camel belongs inside that larger conversation.
What Did Jesus Actually Say?
If we remain close to Matthew’s wording, we do not need to invent a gate, shrink the camel, or force the illustration into something achievable.
Jesus begins with difficulty: δυσκόλως—hard, with difficulty. Then He gives the disciples an impossible picture: a camel passing through the opening of a needle. The disciples ask about ability: Who can be saved? Jesus answers: With humans, impossible. With God, possible.
Perhaps that is why the camel is so large, and the needle is so small. The illustration does not need to be repaired. It needs to remain impossible long enough for us to hear Jesus’ answer. We often want to know how the camel can get through the needle. Jesus redirects our attention from the camel to God. And perhaps that is where the investigation lands. The question is not, “How can I make the impossible possible?” The question is, “Who can do what I cannot?”
Jesus answered that one Himself. “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Michael Kovach
Covenant Light Publishing
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