Needle
Used only in the proverb, "to pass through a needle's eye" (Matt. 19:24; Mark 10:25; Luke 18:25). Some interpret the expression as referring to the side gate, close to the principal gate, usually called the "eye of a needle" in the East; but it is rather to be taken literally. The Hebrew females were skilled in the use of the needle (Ex. 28:39; 26:36; Judg. 5:30).
Passages cited in this entry
Matthew 19:24 · Mark 10:25 · Luke 18:25 · Exodus 28:39 · Judges 5:30
M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 3rd edition (1897). Public domain; text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library. A nineteenth-century Protestant reference: its dates, archaeology and judgements reflect the scholarship of its time and are not Imago Dei's editorial position.