Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1856-12-17
The Camel and the needless Eve.

ST. Mathew XIX. a. ST. Mark, K. IS. st. Luke, XVIII
25 otis easier for camel to go through the eye
needle than for rich man to enter into the king
dom of heaven"
can scarce remember the time in my early
youth, when this text did not excite my curiosi
ty and wonder. In the days of the Evangelist
as well as our own, needles were of various 81
zes. There are the large needles, such as st
Paul used in making tents, and such, also, as We
know, are now employed in making the broad
sails of some great admiral. There are the finest
points of STEEL used in ancient and modern
times. in the most delicate kinds ofneedle work
fit to deck the person of Queen at her corona
ton. The camel il beast of burden, much US
ed in the Eastern countries. 1t is about the
size of the largest oxen, with one or two huncll-
es on its back, with long neck and legs, and with
feet adapted to the hot and sandy desert. Sucl
is the general understanding of the two more
prominent terms of the passage OF the holy
Writ, now under consideration.
Some have supposed that q slightly varied
reading in the original word, which is transla-
ted camel might be adopted, by which the
phrase would be made to mean, cable such
as is used in anchoriDg ships in the roadstead.-
Then the text would read, 1T is easier for ca
BILE to 90 through the eye of needle, &c. But
the former is probably the most correct reading.
for the whole figure seems to have been max
| i'm. quite prevalent in the East. Among the
Babylonians, in whose country elephants were
not uncommon, the phrase was, an elephant
passing through needles eye But the ele.
phant was stranger in Judea, while the camel
was well known; and therefore the latter was
used by the Jews, instead of the former, to give
force to the maxim. Obviously the object of
this form of speech was to express thing abso-
lutely impossible.
But have met with another explanation of
this striking figure, which, to say the least, adds
to its beauty and force. All the important cit
les of the East. in ancient times, were surround
ed BY high and massive walls; and so they are,
as the modern traveller informs us, at the pres
ent day. At certain points, these walls were
perforated by large passage-ways, for the exit
and entrance of the inhabitants These passage
ways, in times of peace, were open by day, but
at night they were closed by massive gates, ca
pable of resisting any common assault. Now,
by the side of these large entrances, were very
much smaller ones, used ny foot passengers, and
by those who had occasion to go forth, or enter
the city by night They were called "the nee
dies eye" Lord Nugent, an English traveller
of modern times, when at Hebron, was directed
to go out by the needles eye. that is, by the
small sde-gate of the city. The camel can go
through the needles eye but with difficulty,
and hardly with full load, nor without stoop-
ing ~
think this expresses the just idea of the pas
sage. SIT is easier for camel to go through the
needles eye than for rich man to enter the
gate of heaven 1t is not impossible for II rich
man to enter heaven, for we may believe there
are many already in the paradise of God, who
consecrated their wealth to the service OF their
Redeemer and trusted in him always for saliva
ton But just as the camel must be relieved OF
part of his load, before he can pass through the
needles eye" so the rich man must divest him
self of large portions of his wealth, in the walks
of benevolence, in order to enter the gates OF
glory. Our Saviour seems to have reference to
the same idea when he says, "Strdight is the
Gate" And as q camel was compelled to stoop
in order to enter by the low and narrow gate OF
the city, so must the rich man learn humility, it
he would "see the Lord" in the fullness of JOY
= Christian Witness.