A Camel Through A Needle's Eye
Luke 18:25

GENERAL

-Home Page
-The Lord's Prayer
-Contact Information
-Unicode
-Bibliography
-Messageboard

RESEARCH

-The Aramaic Site List
-Submit A Site For Review
-Research Article List (NEW!)

LEARN ARAMAIC

-Introduction
-1) The Alapbet
-
2) Vowels & Dialect Marks
-
3) Your First Nouns

MATTHEW

-Evidences
-Manuscripts (NEW!)
-Translations

MARK

-Evidences
-Manuscripts
-Translations

LUKE

-Evidences
-Manuscripts
-Translations

JOHN

-Evidences
-Manuscripts
-Translations

REVELATION

-Evidences
-Manuscripts
-Translations

 

Posted by Steve Caruso , updated Tuesday, August 20, 2002 8:29 AM

 

"Indeed, 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."" -Luke 18:25

The bold area, in Greek, reads "καμηλον" (kamélon) which is the accusative form of "καμηλος" (kamélos). This word, in greek, only means "camel" and sometimes can mean "pack animal" however, if we take a look at it's Aramaic equivalent, we find the word "ܓܱܡܠܴܐ" (gémla) is the only word in Aramaic to describe a generic camel (without getting specific, ie we have the words "colt," "foal," "mare," and "stallion," to describe types of horses, but one general word for the species, "horse").

However, "ܓܱܡܠܴܐ" (gémla), has a double meaning! As Aramaic evolved seperately from Hebrew, it picked up new idioms and meanings to it's vocabluary. "ܓܱܡܠܴܐ" (gémla) is a perfect example, for Aramaic speaking peoples fashioned a rough, thick rope from camel's hair that had a very decent tensile strength, and after a while, it became to be known as, you guessed it, "ܓܱܡܠܴܐ" (gémla). For example, modern-day society has the same phenomena where a product or item is referred to by the first name intorduced, reguardless of what brand it is. Millions of Americans still ask for a "Kleenex" instead of a tissue, the word for "razor" in Brazil is "Gilette," and an "IBM Computer" still refers to any Windows-compatable machine.

"I've found a quote given by a 10th-century Aramaic lexicographer whose name was Bar-Bahlul. He produced an Aramaic dictionary and in it is the following comment for "Gamla":

"Gamla is a thick rope which is used to bind ships"

Considering that Jesus was speaking to fishermen, this meaning of Gamla seems more appropriate, and I think is a fantastic proof that the Greek was translated from an Aramaic [original.]" -Paul Younan

 

Everything © 2002 Steve Caruso unless otherwise noted.
Please feel free to use this for private or public use, just send me an email first! :-)


 


Cybergrace Banner Exchange

Join Christian Banner Exchange Network Today!

MessiahNet Banner ExchangeMessiahNet Banner Exchange
MessiahNet Banner Exchange



Praize.com Christian Banner Exchange


Exchange of Light

Elijah Banner Exchange
Elijah Banner Exchange