First of all, I have only read two of your articles and I am in love with your interpretations of the teachings of the master.
Secondly, you should check out the Aramaic translation of this verse by George Lamsa. He translated the Bible from Aramaic into English and the Aramaic word used in this word is “Gamla.” Gamla can mean either camel OR rope in English. The difference is one dot above a letter when written in Aramaic script.
He naturally translates this verse as “It is easier for a rope to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven.”
Now I know Jesus spoke and taught in parables, but in this instance I truly believe the more accurate representation of this parable is “rope.” It is still impossible for a rope to pass through the eye of a needle, unless it lets go of many of the threads (the baggage of material possessions, and their accompanying mental baggage). Once a rope has released these attachments, extra strands, and become poor, or a single thread, who’s only richness is faith in God, then and only then can the rope pass through the eye of the needle and enter the kingdom of heaven - once it has become a single strand, fully devoted to God. That is how I interpret this teaching.
Thank you for the work you do! You are cherished by God!
Thank you for your kind words. I am familiar with the Aramaic interpretations. Have covered all that before. One problem with this theory is that dots and diacritic marks were not used in Aramaic, Hebrew, or Arabic until the sixth century, AD. Just like spaces, punctuation and the rest weren't used in Greek or Latin. Certainly, Jesus could have used an Aramaic word with a double-meaning word. This was very much his style.
Since I don't offer interpretation of the Greek merely very nit-picky translation, this falls outside of my area of interest.
First of all, I have only read two of your articles and I am in love with your interpretations of the teachings of the master.
Secondly, you should check out the Aramaic translation of this verse by George Lamsa. He translated the Bible from Aramaic into English and the Aramaic word used in this word is “Gamla.” Gamla can mean either camel OR rope in English. The difference is one dot above a letter when written in Aramaic script.
He naturally translates this verse as “It is easier for a rope to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven.”
Now I know Jesus spoke and taught in parables, but in this instance I truly believe the more accurate representation of this parable is “rope.” It is still impossible for a rope to pass through the eye of a needle, unless it lets go of many of the threads (the baggage of material possessions, and their accompanying mental baggage). Once a rope has released these attachments, extra strands, and become poor, or a single thread, who’s only richness is faith in God, then and only then can the rope pass through the eye of the needle and enter the kingdom of heaven - once it has become a single strand, fully devoted to God. That is how I interpret this teaching.
Thank you for the work you do! You are cherished by God!
Thank you for your kind words. I am familiar with the Aramaic interpretations. Have covered all that before. One problem with this theory is that dots and diacritic marks were not used in Aramaic, Hebrew, or Arabic until the sixth century, AD. Just like spaces, punctuation and the rest weren't used in Greek or Latin. Certainly, Jesus could have used an Aramaic word with a double-meaning word. This was very much his style.
Since I don't offer interpretation of the Greek merely very nit-picky translation, this falls outside of my area of interest.