Eye of a needle

Eye of a needle
A dromedary camel passing through the eye of a needle, as a symbol of the improbable Peace of Westphalia. Engraving, Johann Vogel: Meditationes emblematicae de restaurata pace Germaniae, 1649.

The term "eye of a needle" is used as a metaphor for a very narrow opening. It occurs several times throughout the Talmud. The New Testament quotes Jesus as saying in Luke 18:25 that "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Jesus and the rich young man); This is repeated in the same words in Matthew 19:24 and Mark 10:25. It also appears in the Qur'an 7:40, "Indeed, those who deny Our verses and are arrogant toward them – the gates of Heaven will not be opened for them, nor will they enter Paradise until a camel enters into the eye of a needle. And thus do We recompense the criminals."[1]

Mocking the religious metaphor in Soviet atheist magazine Bezbozhnik u Stanka, 1924
  1. ^ "Quran 7". Clear Quran. Retrieved 25 November 2020.