Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
And again I say unto you,.... After the apostles had discovered their astonishment at the above expression, about the difficulty of a rich man entering into the kingdom of heaven; when they expected that, in a short time, all the rich and great men of the nation would espouse the interest of the Messiah, and acknowledge him as a temporal king, and add to the...
Verse 24. It is easier for a camel, etc. This was a proverb in common use among the Jews, and still common among the Arabians. To denote that a thing was impossible, or exceedingly difficult, they said camel or an elephant might as soon walk through a needle's eye.
These words were a proverbial speech among the Jews, to signify a thing of great difficulty, next to an impossibility; and they import thus much: "That it is not only a very great difficulty, but an impossibility, for such as abound in worldy wealth to be saved, without an extraordinary grace and assistance from God.