Needle

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

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. ( Matthew 19:24 ||  Mark 10:25,  Luke 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 Meẓia , 38 b , 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 needle’—that is, can prove that black is white. Similarly, Berakhoth , 55 b  : ‘No one ever saw a golden palm, nor an elephant entering the eye of a needle.’ For other occurrences of the phrase, see Buxtorf’s Lex. s.v. פילא.† [Note: The proposals that have been made to identify the ‘needle’s eye’ with the small door in a large city gate, or to substitute ‘cable’ (κάμιλος) for ‘camel’ (καμηλος), 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.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

1: ῥαφίς (Strong'S #4476 — Feminine Neuter — rhaphis — hraf-ece' )

from rhatpo, "to sew," occurs in  Matthew 19:24;  Mark 10:25 .

2: βέλος (Strong'S #956 — Noun Neuter — belone — bel'-os )

akin to belos, "a dart," denotes a sharp point, hence, "a needle,"  Luke 18:25 (some mss. have No. 1).

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( v. i.) To form needles; to crystallize in the form of needles.

(2): ( v. t.) To form in the shape of a needle; as, to needle crystals.

(3): ( n.) Any slender, pointed object, like a needle, as a pointed crystal, a sharp pinnacle of rock, an obelisk, etc.

(4): ( n.) One of the needle-shaped secondary leaves of pine trees. See Pinus.

(5): ( n.) A slender rod or wire used in knitting; a knitting needle; also, a hooked instrument which carries the thread or twine, and by means of which knots or loops are formed in the process of netting, knitting, or crocheting.

(6): ( n.) See Magnetic needle, under Magnetic.

(7): ( n.) A small instrument of steel, sharply pointed at one end, with an eye to receive a thread, - used in sewing.

King James Dictionary

Needle, n. G. something sharp or pointed. It may be allied to nettle.

1. A small instrument of steel pointed at one end, with an eye at the other to receive a thread used in sewing and embroidery. Needles are also used by surgeons in sewing up wounds. 2. A small pointed piece of steel used in the mariners compass, which by its magnetic quality is attracted and directed to the pole, and thus enables navigators to steer their ships the course intended. 3. Any crystalized substance in the form of a needle.

Dipping needle, a magnetic needle that dips or inclines downwards.

Needle, To form crystals in the shape of a needle.

Needle, To shoot in crystalization into the form of needles as needled prisms.

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Matthew 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  Luke 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.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Matthew 19:24 Mark 10:25 Luke 18:25 Exodus 28:39 26:36 Judges 5:30

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Matthew 19:24 Mark 10:25 Luke 18:25 Matthew 19:26 kamilos kamelos needle's eye

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Gr. ῥαφίς ) occurs in the Bible only in the proverb "to pass through a needle's eye" (τρύφημα) ( Matthew 19:24;  Mark 10:25;  Luke 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 ( Exodus 28:39;  Exodus 26:36); and also of "a prey of divers colors of needlework, of divers colors of needlework on both sides" ( Judges 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).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

nē´d ' 50 ( ῥαφις , rhaphı́s ): 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" (  Matthew 19:24;  Mark 10:25;  Luke 18:25 ). This saying ought to be accepted in the same sense as  Matthew 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 .