contracycle

There was active and extensive sea trade in the Levant, and the Israelites would have plenty of contact with seafaring peoples, so it is not at all improbable that the metaphor of ropes and needles could refer to shipping.

lunachick

I think the idea is that being rich does not make it impossible per se to get into heaven.

It does, however, make it more difficult. I guess the thinking is that the richer you are the more likely you will consider yourself to be a god unto yourself (or be worshipping Mammon instead of the capital 'G' christian god); and be less vigilant about not committing any of those deadly sins and stuff.

Being rich is having power, and you know what they say about power corrupting...

lunachick

The problem I see with the shipping metaphor, is that the ship would have either come to Eilat, which only joins Africa and Persia; or come to Haifa, which only joins Africa and Europe.

Jerusalem joins them all - and it is landlocked.

contracycle

Yes its landlocked, but that does not mean that the people would not understand a naval metaphor. Semitic peoples were trading murex dye and cedar all round the Med, copper from Cyprus, grain from Egypt, iron from Iberia wine yada yada. The Levant coast has been a vigorous naval trading area for, well, millenia. Theres a fair amount of human and animal traffic going on here.

lunachick

Oh, I agree that they would understand a naval metaphor. But with regard to Jerusalem, surely the camel translation is strongest. Even if the goods came initially by sea, they would have been carried to Jerusalem by camel.

seanie

It's landlocked but it's only about 20K from the dead sea and 50 or 60 from the med. And it was part of an extensive trading network. The concept of ships and ropes is unlikely to be too alien.

And, cynic that I am, a gate that happens to be called "the eye of the needle" sounds to me like the work of the Jerusalem Tourist Board.

lunachick

Hmmm. You might be right.

You might not be...but then again you might be...

Hmmmm....

seanie

Which is gonna sell more?

(a) A postcard of a crappy little gate.

or

(b) A postcard of a crappy little gate specifically mentioned by the Lord God Jesus Christ.



oh and here's one of his gourds....

lunachick

LOL!

Can I just have that piece of string?

How long is it?

capsaicin67

While I have to say that my gut tells me that a very large rope vs a needle sounds the most likely, a "camel through an annoyingly small gate" just makes me laugh out loud in a Monty Python kinda way. It's far too abstract and funny to be authentic, but sounds great!

In any case, I think that we can all agree that the point was that the greedy and affluent are going to have a rough go of keepin their priorities straight and not just being shekel grubbing bastards.

Which makes GWB and many televangelists all the more comical. The only thing funnier is how many people that make less than 50k a year don't see the irony/conflict there............