Language Studies

Aramaic Thoughts

Camels, Needles, and Conventional Wisdom - Part 1

Conventional wisdom can be defined as that understanding of things that is broadly received among people. Thus in the 1970's the conventional wisdom was that the earth was about to enter into a new Ice Age. Articles in respected newspapers such as the New York Times and the Washington Post touted this as fact, citing one scientist after another, or citing a variety of scientific studies that purported to prove this conclusion. As we all know the current conventional wisdom is that the earth is about to enter a new "Steam Age" as the result of global warming. Notice from this that conventional wisdom has nothing to do with whether the view is true or false, only that it is commonly received, and treated as true. Another term that identifies the same thing is "urban legend." However, with urban legend the supposition is that the statement made is not true, even though it may sound true. It may nonetheless also be conventional wisdom.

Unfortunately there is much conventional wisdom in Christian circles. Many times these items of conventional wisdom are passed on to the Christian by means of sermons and popular books that have little research supporting them. These items of conventional wisdom often purport to explain some Biblical passage in a way that it has never been understood before. As with urban legend, these bits of conventional wisdom are often difficult to trace to their origins. Two items of conventional wisdom that relate to Biblical Aramaic have to do with Jesus' statement, "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" (Matthew 19:24; Mark 10:25; Luke 18:25).

The first of these items I remember hearing in a sermon thirty years ago, and I doubt that it was new then. This bit of conventional wisdom explains Jesus' outrageous statement as follows: There was a gate in the city wall of Jerusalem in the first century that was called "The Eye of the Needle." It was a small gate, and in order for a camel to go through the gate it was necessary first to remove the load that the camel was carrying. Then the camel had to get down on his knees in order to crawl through the gate. Jesus' statement, according to this item of conventional wisdom, was intended to teach that a man could enter heaven only by getting rid of his load of sin, then getting on his knees. Now this "explanation" has been very popular, as I have heard it occasionally over the years since then. However, it ignores a number of things. First, there was no gate in Jerusalem called "The Eye of the Needle." No evidence for such a gate exists. Second, why would anyone want to take a fully-loaded camel through such a gate when any number of full-sized gates existed that a camel could simply be walked through? Third, it seems to be ignorant of how difficult camels are to work with. No camel-driver in his right mind would attempt to get a camel on its knees then force it to crawl several yards. It would not happen. The camel would not cooperate. Fourth it ignores the fact that Jesus gives his statement his own interpretation, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." That is, salvation is dependent upon the activity of God. Fifth, this bit of conventional wisdom ignores the fact that Jesus is engaging in the figure of speech known as hyperbole, that is, extravagant exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis.

Another bit of conventional wisdom for this passage also appears occasionally that is more directly tied to Aramaic. We will look at it next week.

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