The Camel and the Needle

After the encounter with the rich young ruler who “went away sorrowful” when learning that the Savior wanted him to give up all his possessions, the Savior warned His disciples about riches.  He said, “Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” (Matt. 19:23-24).  There are a three main interpretations that I’m aware of that people have suggested that the Savior meant by this saying regarding the camel and needle: that the eye of the needle was really a small door into Jerusalem that the camel would have to crawl through, that the word should be rope instead of camel and so the rope would have to pass through the eye of a needle, and that it was a use of exaggeration with the words meaning what they appear to us to mean.  The student manual suggests that there is not enough evidence for the first two interpretations, and so “it was likely an example of hyperbole, an intentional exaggeration to teach ‘that a rich man shall hardly [with difficulty] enter into the kingdom of heaven.’”  This is consistent with the fact that the Savior used hyperbole while speaking about a camel on another occasion when He criticized those who “strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel” (Matt. 23:24).  Clearly He didn’t really mean that they swallowed camels, but the imagery is perfectly clear to teach us about their hypocrisy.  So despite the fact that it is physically impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, the message is not that no person with means can make it to heaven, but rather that it is not easy.  The Joseph Smith Translation puts it this way: “With men that trust in riches, it is impossible; but not impossible with men who trust in God and leave all for my sake, for with such all these things are possible” (JST Mark 10:26). 

               There may be some symbolism that was meant by the camel and needle in particular in this saying of Jesus.  In that day people of means would travel with many camels, and it may be that the camel was intended to represent the wealthy (those who had the luxury of riding on camels) who didn’t have to work much for themselves. The needle, on the other hand, might symbolize the common laborers who have to sew their own clothing by the sweat of their brow with literal needles.  If the camel—the rich—can’t learn to humble themselves enough to the level of a needle (or to labor for themselves), then they cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.  As soon as the money we have gets us to think that we are too important to labor or serve or humble ourselves in the common tasks of life, then we are no longer fit for the kingdom of God where service is the central way of life. 

Perhaps there is also a connection with this saying to the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. The rich man “fared sumptuously every day” and did not have to labor for himself, and thus he found in the next life that he could not go to Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:19).  If being rich means that we become similar to that man, not having to work for ourselves and letting the poor sit at our gates starving to death, then like the camel trying to shrink itself to go through a needle we will not be able to get into the symbolic door to heaven.  As the famous monkey trap that catches the animal because it won’t let go of a prized banana, we would be too big to make it through to heaven because of the earthly riches we cling to.  But if we learn to give away any riches that we have in service of others, if we learn to “trust in God and leave all for [His] sake,” the door to heaven will be plenty big for us.