08/04/2022

All the talk about billionaires and oligarchs in the news lately reminds me of a story in the New Testament.

"And now a man came to him [Jesus] and asked, 'Master, what good deed must I do to possess eternal life?'" Matthew 19:16

...

"Jesus said, 'If you wish to be perfect, go and sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.'" Matthew 19:21

(I'm sure this is a VERY popular idea among billionaires and oligarchs :-)

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"But when the young man heard these words he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth."

"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'In truth I tell you, it is hard for someone rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven."

"Yes, I tell you again, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven.'"  Matthew 19:22-24

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This is a very interesting verse.

There is some confusion about the word for "camel" here.

Jesus almost certainly spoke Aramaic.

The New Testament was written about a generation later in Greek.

Written Aramaic, which doesn't always use vowels, has the same word for "camel" as for "rope".

Also in Greek the two words for "camel" and "rope" are nearly identical.

Some scholars have argued that Jesus actually said "rope" and NOT "camel". 

"... it is easier for a ROPE to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven.'"

One could argue that "rope", as an exaggeration on thread, makes more sense here.

There isn't enough information to decide this definitively, but it seems moot anyway as the basic meaning is unchanged.

That is, that it is very difficult for someone rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven.

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Fortunately for the rich there is still hope :-)

"When the disciples heard this they were astonished. 'Who can be saved, then?' they said." 

"Jesus gazed at them. 'By human resources', he told them, 'this is impossible; for God everything is possible.'"  Matthew 19:25-26

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