From: Edward Hobbs (EHOBBS@wellesley.edu)
Date: Wed Feb 04 1998 - 16:46:27 EST
John Pass comments:
" Please forgive me for saying something I have not personally
researched: Wasn't it a custom in those days, after the gates
of a city had been closed, to let in travelers/merchants through
a smaller gate/door in the wall for security reasons. Thereby,
forcing a loaded camel to unload and bend beneath the door frame
And the saying 'eye of a needle' became synonymous with this doorway.
This, if true, would support the camel definition. I cannot remember
my source for this as it was sometime ago. "
This was told by my Sunday School teacher to us, sixty years ago.
It is of course pure fiction; but it has the lovely advantage that
one can conclude that, like the ancient camel, we who might benrich must
get rid of our "baggage" (riches), get down on our knees, and pray!
The story seems to be at least a hundred years old, maybe more.
Edward Hobbs
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