From: Mark Goodacre (goodacms@m4-arts.bham.ac.uk)
Date: Fri Feb 06 1998 - 11:35:56 EST
Jonathan Robie wrote:
> I like the one about straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel.
> What a great visual image!
Ed Sanders once pointed out to me that many Jews would have 'strained
out gnats' from their immersion pools lest they defile them, though
in time the legislation was that the insect only defiles if it is
larger than a lentil (if I remember correctly). I don't think that
this compromises the joke, however -- indeed, if true, it makes the
idea (inadvertent swallowing of camels while straining out gnats)
even funnier.
All the best
Mark
------------------------------------------------
Dr Mark Goodacre M.S.Goodacre@bham.ac.uk
Dept of Theology, University of Birmingham
Homepage: http://www.bham.ac.uk/theology/goodacre.htm
World Without Q: http://www.bham.ac.uk/theology/q.htm
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