[HPFGU-OTChatter] Camels and needles

[yael oren]

  Wotan wrote:

  > And on the subject of Hebrew, I remember somebody once telling me 
  > that if you make a minor change to the following in Hebrew -
  > 
  >       It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a 
  > needle ...   (Matthew)
  > 
  > (like changing an 'i' to a 'j' in written English) you end up with -
  > 
  >       It is easier for a ship's rope to go through the eye of a 
  > needle ...
  > 
  > Does that sound plausible?

  Yael can answer that, but I'll answer the implied Biblical 
  interpretation question (i.e. is this what Matthew really meant?):  he 
  didn't write in Hebrew, but in Greek.

  Amy Z

Actually, I can't answer that one accurately. I can't think of any two similar words in Hebrew that would mean 'camel' and 'ship's rope'. I asked people around, but they made fun of me *sulks*. Anyway, since vowels are rarely used in Hebrew, and pronouncing a word correctly is mainly a matter of knowing the word and its context, it is possible to turn the word 'camel' into various other words such as: retaliator, reward, withdrawal, the third letter of the Hebrew alphabet and so on. Take your pick. It is highly possible that there are some obscure words I've missed.

Sorry, yael
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