Summer 2013
Journal of Biblical Ministry
Jesus makes concrete what certainly for the disciples seemed abstract. Jesus paints the imagery of the largest domestic animal in his world trying to squeeze through the smallest of openings. He does not say that a rich person cannot be saved (v. 25); however, Jesus warns that it is more difficult for a person of wealth to be saved because he does not sense his need as acutely as a poor person does. The editors of the UBS3 and the UBS4 do not list a graded reading concerning the substitution of κάμιλον “rope” for κάμηλον “camel” in Mk. 10:25; Matt. 19:24; and Luke 18:25, which in essence testifies to the absurdity of this exchange. Metzger, however, offers limited discussion on Luke 18:25: In an attempt to soften the rigor of the statement, the word κάμιλον (“rope” or “a ship’s hawser”) was substituted for κάμηλον [“camel”] in several of the later witnesses (S 13 59 124 130 437 472 543 arm geo). The change was facilitated by the circumstance that ι and η came to be pronounced alike in later Greek (both words were pronounced kah mee-lon).41 Metzger is correct about these two words having identical pronunciation; however, the phenomenon of identical pronunciation for certain Greek letters goes back before the era of the Christ event, based on textual variants in the LXX, NT, and secular sources. 42 Another controversy, or rather popular misconception, involves the nature of the needle. Evans observed, “In the parallel Luke uses the word βελόνη, which is a classical Attic word and may mean a surgeon’s needle.”43 Yet a story attributed to Theophylact (11th century) alleges that a certain gate in Jerusalem was called “the eye of the needle.” This myth is popular among some preachers and some Israeli tour guides who 41
Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament: A Companion Volume rd to the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament, 3 ed. (Stuttgart, Germany: United Bible Societies, 1971), 169. Metzger used Luke 18:25 as the verse that he commented on concerning the κάμηλον and κάμιλον readings. He used Matt. 19:24 as the point of discussion the κάμηλον and κάμιλον readings in the second edition of the Textual Commentary: however, he made only a cursory remark in the second edition. See Metzger, A Textual Commentary, 2nd. ed., 40. 42
This writer is currently writing a monograph entitled, “Developing a Methodology Concerning First Century Pronunciation of the Greek Language in Light of the Septuagint, New Testament, and Secular Literature.” 43
Evans, Mark 8:27-16:20, 101.
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