The young ruler reacted with a display of sadness. He went away grieved, for he had great possessions. Looking at the disciples, Jesus remarked, “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!”<\/p>\n
The disciples reacted with astonishment. Jesus explained, “Children, how hard it is for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! 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<\/em>” (Mark 10:23-25).<\/p>\n That story impressed me, and in ignorance, I repeated it. A more objective study of the passage in which Jesus spoke of the needle’s eye led me in time to reject that story about the gate and to come to the conclusion that the Lord was speaking of an ordinary kind of needle.<\/p>\n First, I noticed that Jesus spoke of a rich man in the sense of one who trusts in riches, not merely one who possesses wealth. Read carefully Mark’s account and notice the following:<\/p>\n The disciples took Jesus’ illustration to have that meaning. They asked, “Who then can be saved?<\/em>” Obviously, something would have to change before a camel could go through the eye of a sewing needle. Therefore, Jesus said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible<\/em>” (Mark 10:27).<\/p>\n It is impossible for one who trusts in riches to be saved, whether he has five dollars or five million dollars. But with God all things are possible. Working through the power of the gospel, God can change a man so that he ceases to trust in himself, his riches, his own wisdom, etc., and puts his trust in Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n Also, it is worthy of note that the Greek word “needle” (rhaphis<\/em>) used in Mark’s account comes from\u00a0rhapto<\/em>, meaning “to sew.” Vine says, “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.” The word for “needle” in Luke’s account is\u00a0belone<\/em>, which according to Vincent, “is the peculiar word for the surgical needle.” A.T. Robertson says it “means originally the point of a spear and then a surgeon’s needle.”<\/p>\n McGarvey sums the matter up by saying, “The conceit, which originated I know not where, that ‘the eye of a needle’ here means a low and narrow gate through which the camel could not go except on his knees and after his burden had been removed, is not only without historical foundation but is inconsistent with the context, which contemplates something impossible with men” (comments on Matthew 19:24). This article is not designed to needle anyone but to point out that we need to carefully study the language used before eyeing conclusions.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Irvin Himmel A rich young ruler came running to Jesus and, kneeling before the Master, posed the question, “Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” Jesus called attention to some of the basic commands of the law. The young man answered, “Master, all these have I observed from my…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[211,1449,76],"class_list":["post-58293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-figurative-language","tag-figures-of-speech","tag-terminology"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38131,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-jesus-cite-only-six-of-the-ten-commandments-to-the-young-ruler\/","url_meta":{"origin":58293,"position":0},"title":"Why did Jesus cite only six of the Ten Commandments to the young ruler?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I visit your site often to look up topics and articles. There is very good information cited in them. I have a question, you might be able to answer.\u00a0In Matthew 19:18-19, why did Jesus only cite six of the ten commandments to the rich young ruler and not all?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93195,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/rich-young-ruler\/","url_meta":{"origin":58293,"position":1},"title":"Rich Young Ruler","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 14, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh DeLong I find it interesting to see the list of commandments that Jesus quoted to the rich young ruler in Mark 10:19: \"You know the commandments: Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; do not defraud; honor your father and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89934,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/changes-in-the-storm\/","url_meta":{"origin":58293,"position":2},"title":"Changes in the Storm","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Charles Box This lesson requires us to answer the question, \"Exactly what is a miracle?\" The term \"Miracle\" is used far too loosely and frequently in our society. \"A miracle is a divine operation that transcends what is normally perceived as natural law; it cannot be explained upon any\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/stormy-300x188.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2461,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/since-jesus-said-to-keep-the-commandments-shouldnt-we-keep-the-sabbath\/","url_meta":{"origin":58293,"position":3},"title":"Since Jesus said to keep the commandments, shouldn’t we keep the Sabbath?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 5, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Christ was asked in the Bible, \"Lord, what must I do to enter the kingdom of Heaven?\" Christ replied, \"keep the commandments\" and named a few of them. Since keeping the Sabbath was one of them, shouldn't we keep the Sabbath today? Answer: You are referring to the question\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65334,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-the-ruler-over-the-kings-of-the-earth\/","url_meta":{"origin":58293,"position":4},"title":"Jesus, the Ruler Over the Kings of the Earth","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood\" (Revelation 1:5). Jesus is \"the Ruler over the kings of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83530,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-loves-the-little-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":58293,"position":5},"title":"Jesus Loves the Little Children","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kent Heaton via Biblical Insight, Vol. 14, No. 9, September 2014 There are many scenes in which Jesus Christ is the imminent teacher of multitudes, advisor to noblemen, powerful Creator calming a storm, or the great physician healing and raising the dead. His wrath and fury are felt with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/jesus_and_the_children_2-247x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58293\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A Gate or Sewing Needle?<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/01\/needles-eye-gate.jpeg\")
In my youthful years, I heard some preachers say that in ancient times there was a small gate in the wall around Jerusalem; and this tiny gate was called “the Needle’s Eye.” According to the preacher, the little gate was used when the big, regular-size gates were closed. It was so small, declared the preacher, that a camel could go through it only by getting down on his knees and squeezing through. The lesson then, according to the said preacher, is that a rich man can be saved only by squeezing through – getting on his knees, so to speak, by the proper and sacrificial use of his wealth.<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/01\/sewing-needle-300x232.jpg\")
Now, is it possible for people who trust in riches to be saved? Not at all! One must put his trust in the Lord to be saved. They that have riches, that is, they who trust in riches, can no more be saved than a camel can go through the eye of a needle. To a Jew, the camel was the largest domestic animal, and the eye of the needle was the smallest of openings visible to the eye. Such a large animal passing through such a small hole clearly conveyed an impossibility.<\/p>\n