Needle's Eye

Concise Bible Dictionary:

 
Needle's eye—Jerusalem (El-Kouds), approach to the city. Jaffa Gate closed, showing 'Needle's Eye.'
This occurs in the gospels in the saying that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 19:2424And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. (Matthew 19:24); Mark 10:2525It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. (Mark 10:25); Luke 18:2525For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. (Luke 18:25)). Efforts have been made to refer “the eye of a needle” to a wicket gate, through which a camel can pass, but only with great difficulty; but the Lord speaks of it as something “impossible” except to God. Doubtless a common needle was alluded to. The rabbis had a similar proverb concerning the elephant. Needles have been found in the Egyptian tombs, made of bronze about three inches in length.
 
Needle’s Eye

From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

There is supposed to be here a reference to a proverbial form of expression common in the Jewish schools, when one desired to express the idea of great difficulty or of impossibility. Lightfoot gives several quotations from the rabbis, where the difficulty is represented by the image of an elephant going through the eye of a needle.
Some writers, however, think that there is allusion in the text, not only to a proverbial form of speech, but also to a fact. They refer to the low, narrow entrances to Oriental houses, and to the difficulty a camel would experience in entering, though even a camel might enter if he would take off his load and kneel down,; which may be considered a hint to rich men who would enter the kingdom of heaven.
A recent English writer says: “In Oriental cities there are in the large gates small and very low apertures, called, metaphorically, needles’ eyes, just as we talk of certain windows as bulls’ eyes. These entrances are too narrow for a camel to pass through them in the ordinary manner, or even if loaded. When a laden camel has to pass through one of these entrances it kneels down, its load is removed, and then it shuffles through on its knees. ‘Yesterday,’ writes Lady Duff Gordon from Cairo, ‘I saw a camel go through the eye of a needle, namely, the low-arched door of an enclosure. He must kneel, and bow his head to creep through; and thus the rich man must humble himself’” (Bible Animals, by the Rev. J. G. Wood, p. 243).

Related Books and Articles:

681. The "Needle's Eye"