Is there a Greek or Aramaic word for "rope" that is similar to the word for "camel?"

Question

I'm looking at Matthew 19 (New American Standard Bible), specifically at the interaction Jesus had with the young man who wanted to obtain eternal life (v. 16ff).

In verse 24, Jesus tells the disciples that it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom. (NOTE: the bit about a small gate in the wall called the Eye of the Needle is, as far as I have been able to discover, merely a preacher lie, generated for sermon material to illustrate a point.)

Multi decades ago, as a young adult Christian, I read a book on humor in the Bible, and it said this was a pun by Jesus. The punch was that there was a saying about a rope going through the eye of a needle, and that the word for 'rope' was similar to the word for 'camel.' Jesus was taking the expression about something that was already impossible, and by word-play, showing it was really, REALLY impossible.

I liked that explanation for two reasons: first, because I love the idea of Jesus using humor; second, because it demonstrates why He would use such a strange comparison.

However, today I'm looking up the word for "camel" in Tyndale House Greek New Testament, and I get "κάμηλον."

I can't come up with a word in Greek, that would be used for a rope that's similar to "κάμηλον." However, my resources for English to Greek are limited to google, and they only use modern languages. Also, my koine proficiency is scant, scant, scant. I took a year of Greek in 1978-9, and while it was beneficial, I am no longer able even to read something as simple as the Gospel of John without resorting to resources.

Thus, I've exhausted my ability.

So, language scholars: Is there a word, in a language Jesus might have used, that links the greatly impossible camel with a still impossible cordage?

Answer 1

You have the Greek word κάμηλος meaning camel.

You have the Greek word κάμιλος meaning rope.

In the Talmud (BT 6, 601, 1. 16) we read that the people of Puimbedita deemed themselves so clever that they could put an elephant through a needle's eye…
Some later MSS read in Mark 10, 25 and the two parallel passages κάμιλος, cable, instead of κάμηλος, camel.
_{–– Paul Haupt: "Camel and Cable", American Journal of Philology 45, 3 (1924), pp. 238-259}

Wikipedia: Eye of a needle

The Armenian bible also prefers rope:

Դարձեալ ասեմ ձեզ. դիւրին է մալխոյ մտանել ընդ ծակ ասղան, քան մեծատան յարքայութիւն Աստուծոյ մտանել։

As does the Peschitta:

Matthew 19:24 - ܬܘܒ ܕܝܢ ܐܡܪܢܐ ܠܟܘܢ ܕܕܠܝܠ ܗܘ ܠܓܡܠܐ ܠܡܥܠ ܒܚܪܘܪܐ ܕܡܚܛܐ ܐܘ ܥܬܝܪܐ ܕܢܥܘܠ ܠܡܠܟܘܬܐ ܕܐܠܗܐ ܀ (analyze)

Matthew 19:24 - Again I say to you, It is easier for a rope to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
^{(Dr. George Lamsa's English Peshitta translation)}

Matthew 19:24 - Opnieuw zeg ik jullie dat het voor een kabelzie Marcus 10:25 eenvoudiger is het oog van een naald binnen te gaan, dan voor een rijke om het koninkrijk van God binnen te gaan."
^{(Egbert Nierop's Dutch Peshitta translation)}

Since these two are very old in their textual basis and the Byzantine tradition of Greek iotacism makes the pronunciation identical, it doesn't get much clearer.

And towards Aramaic:

Matthew 19:24 Some scholars of the Peshitta and the Greek New Testament claim that in Matthew 19:24 as the Aramaic word for 'camel' is written identically to the word for 'rope.' an error occurred due to the translator's limitations when the original scrolls were being transferred into Greek. This would mean Matthew 19:24 commonly translated as, '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.' Would read 'rope' instead of 'camel'. To support this they claim that rope, is much more in keeping with the imagery of a needle, and that it is probably what Jesus said, and what was originally recorded. Saint Cyril in his commentary on the Holy Gospel according to Luke (Luke 18:25) says that camel is the term used by those versed in navigation for a thick rope, thereby both stating that the term camel is the right one and that its meaning is that of a rope and not the animal. This suggests the Lamsa 'rope' translation is the more accurate "meaning" translation and 'camel' is the more accurate 1st century "slang" translation.

So Aramaic 'gamla' can also be translated camel or rope. But one may make a distinction between ܓܐܡܠܐ (gamlo) and ܓܐܡܠܥ (gamla).

(For example in Nicholas Awde, Nineb Lamassu, Nicholas Al-Jeloo: "Aramaic (Assyrian/Syriac) Dictionary & Phrasebook", Hippocrene Books, 2007, p66, 67, 89, 157, 226, 235, 272, 277) Or Christopher Lancaster and Paul Younan: "Semi Split Words in the New Testament, Suggest Peshitta Primacy – Part 1" (PDF)

As already Cyril of Alexandria insists:

“By “camel” here he means not the living thing, the beast of burden, but the thick rope to which sailors tie their anchors. He shows this comparison to be not entirely pointless (as a camel would be), but he makes it an exceedingly difficult matter; in fact, next to impossible.”
_{–– Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) in Fragment 219}

Nice summaries of interpretations:

_{–– Klaus Berger: "Ein Kamel durchs Nadelöhr?: Der Humor Jesu", Herder, 2019. (p 61–72).
–– Michael Neuhold: "Eher geht ein Kamel durch ein Nadelöhr", 24. Aug. 2019.
–– Theodore R. Lorah: "Again — Camel or Rope in Matthew 19.24 And Mark 10.25?", 1996. (PDF)}

Answer 2

Yes, for Greek it's possible too:

• κάμιλος = rope
• κάμηλος = camel

and Aramaic:

• gamla = rope
• gamla = camel

possible but not provable, yes it is possible

Answer 3

The word חבל, pronounced chevel (the "ch" is pronounced like that composer Bach) means rope in Biblical Hebrew (1 Kings 21:30). It is also chevel in Modern Hebrew.

In Aramaic, it is written חבלא. It is pronounced chavla. One example would be the Talmud in Shabat 54B:

תניא ובלבד שיגביה מן הקרקע טפח כי תניא ההיא בחבלא דביני ביני:

Chevel sound close to Camel if you ask me!