The story I’d heard was not that it’s a transcription error, but closer to a pun. Readers would be familiar with the term for a ship’s rope, and the minor linguistic shift highlighted the absurdity of such an idea.
Interesting though about translations to other languages. I’ll have to dig further on the subject.
There is exactly one person in history who mentioned this supposed reference to a ship’s rope being referred to as a “camel.” The word in that context appeared nowhere else, including no other contemporaneous writing on ships and navigation. Not very credible, especially with the other evidence of a transcription error.
God gives grace to those he blesses, or something idk.
I’ve actually been in a US Southern megachurch, that “interpreted” that verse.
They went on about how certain gates were called needles and camels fit through very nicely, they just had a different gate, maybe put down their stuff first.
I just remembered the gist: obey and God gives you stuff, your stuff is a symbol of your piety and proof that you are one of God’s chosen.
Yeah, as you’ve surmised, all that stuff about a gate called The Eye of a Needle is a complete fiction and has no basis in fact.
Evangelical Christianity has a fair amount of that kind of thing because they start from a conclusion and fit the Bible to their pedagogical narrative, whether explicitly classist (in your megachurch example) or that the Bible is perfectly integral (that there are no contradictions or mistranslations).
The “prosperity gospel” nonsense gave us this cruel idiot as president.
Fun fact, “camel” is a transcription error. It’s actually “It is easier for a (thick) rope to go through the eye of a needle…”
In the Greek the book is written in, κάμηλος means camel, while κάμιλος means (thick) rope. Translations in other languages of the time also say rope.
And just based on common sense, rope makes more sense.
The story I’d heard was not that it’s a transcription error, but closer to a pun. Readers would be familiar with the term for a ship’s rope, and the minor linguistic shift highlighted the absurdity of such an idea.
Interesting though about translations to other languages. I’ll have to dig further on the subject.
There is exactly one person in history who mentioned this supposed reference to a ship’s rope being referred to as a “camel.” The word in that context appeared nowhere else, including no other contemporaneous writing on ships and navigation. Not very credible, especially with the other evidence of a transcription error.
That is fun. TIL.
So it’s not a challenge for a rich person to extrude camels through eyes of needles?
God gives grace to those he blesses, or something idk.
I’ve actually been in a US Southern megachurch, that “interpreted” that verse.
They went on about how certain gates were called needles and camels fit through very nicely, they just had a different gate, maybe put down their stuff first.
I just remembered the gist: obey and God gives you stuff, your stuff is a symbol of your piety and proof that you are one of God’s chosen.
Yeah, as you’ve surmised, all that stuff about a gate called The Eye of a Needle is a complete fiction and has no basis in fact.
Evangelical Christianity has a fair amount of that kind of thing because they start from a conclusion and fit the Bible to their pedagogical narrative, whether explicitly classist (in your megachurch example) or that the Bible is perfectly integral (that there are no contradictions or mistranslations).
The “prosperity gospel” nonsense gave us this cruel idiot as president.
yup. its what I want is literal and what does not fit is metaphor.