Hard-ly
I think I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again. Shakespeare made up the word “lonely”. Before, it was just, “lone”, which of course was derived from “alone”. In Shakespeare’s time there were no english dictionaries, at least not anything like the ones we have. Thesauruses were more common.
Writers in that era understood something that grammar nazis the internet over constantly forget — it doesn’t matter if it’s a word, it only matters if people understand you. So when Shakespeare “broke the rules” and described a “lonely dragon”, it didn’t matter that it was the first recorded use of the word lonely. People understood him.
English wasn’t truly standardized until the publication of the Oxford English Dictionary in 1884. Even now, it is constantly evolving.
Yet, when we read old texts (I’d hazard that the bible is probably the oldest-most commonly read book) We forget this. It’s so easy to apply modern understandings of words to old passages.
As evidence, I give you Matthew 19:23, KJV:
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of God.”
Matthew 19:23 KJV
Hardly. In today’s understanding of this word, it sounds like rich people can’t go to heaven. But if you go back to a time when words were just being made up, what does it sound like? “Hard-ly”. It’s hard to do. Not impossible, just hard.
Sure enough, we see that the greek translation equates closer to “with difficulty”.
This isn’t one of those “I want to be rich but I also want to go to heaven so I’m going to write a blog post in defense of rich people”. The subsequent verse goes pretty hard on the wealthy.
“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 KJV
There are three ways of interpreting this verse.
A popular version is that there was a narrow gate, the height of a man, that led into Jerusalem. For a camel to pass through, not only would it have to unload its baggage, but it would have to kneel. The suggestion being that the rich would not only need to give up their possessions, but kneel before God to gain entrance to the kingdom of heaven. Beautiful idea, but evidence of the existence of this gate is not widely accepted.
Cyril of Alexandria posited that camel is a misspelling in the greek- instead of “Kamelos” (camel) it should have been written “Kamilos” which means rope or cable. In this setting the eye of a needle is literally the eye of a sewing needle, and it’s simply what it sounds like: essentially impossible to get the rope through.
The third way of thinking about it: Completely literally. Can you fit a camel through a needle? Absolutely, definitely not. It’s impossible. It’s ridiculous.
Before you say “that’s silly, of course there are wealthy people who will go to heaven. I know a few who are so generous and kind and God-fearing that they will absolutely be there.” Consider the following verse where Jesus reminds us what is and isn’t possible:
But Jesus beheld their thoughts, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but if they will forsake all things for my sake, with God whatsoever things I speak are possible.
Matthew 19:26, Joseph Smith Translation
The original verse simply reads “With God all things are possible”.
Let’s go back to this idea of it being impossible for a rich man to enter into heaven. I have a question:
Is it possible for a poor man to enter into heaven?
Christ could give a nearly identical answer here. “With men, this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
It doesn’t matter how poor or rich you are. You are locked out of heaven because, news flash: we all are. Only through God are we redeemed. Doesn’t matter what kind of bank account you have.
Just remember this before you judge someone for how much wealth they have or how materialistic they may seem.
So why then did Matthew include this section specifically about the rich? Although everyone, rich and poor alike, are locked out of heaven without Christ, he makes a specific point here to say that wealth makes it more difficult.
This new understanding makes it easier to grasp. It’s not that being wealthy is a sin. It’s that we are all sinners, and wealth is difficult to let go of. Wealth is easy to become fixated on. It makes it easy to access indulgence, which can quickly lead to sin. It’s a form of power, which can easily corrupt.
Maybe it was in view of all these dangers that Paul wrote to Timothy “the love of money is the root of all evil” (often translated as “all kinds of evil”.)
Again, in Paul’s warning, it is not that being wealthy is a sin. It’s the love of that wealth that sin grows from.
I’m closing up this post now. The moral of this story is really said by Jesus at the end of the chapter:
Every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”
Matthew 19:29 KJV
Making sacrifices is something that God has always asked his people to do. Note that Christ only lists two items related to wealth here, houses and lands. Whether you aspire to be wealthy or resent the rich, ask yourself if you’re willing to sacrifice what you have for god. Would you “go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor”? This is the test for how difficult it will be for you to enter heaven, not the balance of your bank account.
