The Greek word kamilos (‘camel’) should really be kamêlos, meaning ‘cable or ‘rope’. Some late New Testament manuscripts have this. Hence it is easier to thread a needle with a rope rather than a strand of cotton than for a rich man to enter the kingdom.

An alternative linguistic explanation is taken from some Aramaic translations which have the word ‘rope’ in the main text but a footnote which states that the Aramaic word ‘gamla’ can mean both rope and camel because the ropes were made from camel hair. Evidence for this also comes from the 10th century Aramaic lexicographer Mar Bahlul who gives the meaning of ‘gamla’ as a “a large rope used to bind ships”.