The eye of the needle refers to a particular gate that the people of that time period had to protect their gardens from the camels.
It was shaped similar to the eye of a needle and would easily let a human pass through but a camel could not.
It didn’t have to be opened or closed all the time. The protection was in it’s design.
People hear various theories all of the time. Told by a "local tour guide", or whomever.
Here's a page about someone trying to track that one down, or at least the similar gate camel eye needle story:
https://classictheology.org/2021/10/12/through-the-eye-of-an-actual-needle-the-fake-gate-theory/
Meanwhile, there are different Talmudic references, with their specific words and meanings. I check them out. Even the standard explanation that the [letter] kuf is Aramaic for an eye *of a needle* is suspect. Not that the word doesn't mean an eye/hole, but if the intrinsic meaning of קוֹפָא involved a needle specifically, why the added descriptive "of a needle" -- דְמַחְטָא:
וְלָא פִּילָא דְּעָיֵיל בְּקוֹפָא דְמַחְטָא
"nor an elephant [going through] the eye of a needle"
https://www.sefaria.org/Berakhot.55b.20?lang=bi
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Here's another reference, from Mivchar Hapeninim:
ואמר אין נקב המחט צר לשני אוהבים. ואין רוחב העולם די לשני שונאים:
281. He used to say, The space of a needle's eye [נקב המחט] suffices for two friends, whilst the universe itself can scarcely contain two enemies.
https://www.sefaria.org/Mivchar_HaPeninim.25.4?lang=bi
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נֶֽקֶב m.n. hole, perforation
https://www.sefaria.org/Klein_Dictionary%2C_%D7%A0%D6%B6%D6%BD%D7%A7%D6%B6%D7%91.1?lang=bi
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לִנְקוֹב
Verb to stipulate, to quote (price); to puncture, to pierce:
https://www.pealim.com/dict/1250-linkov/
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Again with The Point of the needle piercing a hole. Plenty of room, or not, depending on the personal space requirements.
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holepunch -- מנקב, same root:
https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%A0%D7%A7%D7%91
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The hole for the thread or the hole made by the sharp point at the other end...
There's an interesting heads or tails analog in the Cygnus constellation. The swan's tail (Deneb = "tail") is at the top which is also the head of the Northern Cross asterism within.
It was shaped similar to the eye of a needle and would easily let a human pass through but a camel could not.
It didn’t have to be opened or closed all the time. The protection was in it’s design.
Join the Navi See the World:
In Navy (and broader military) context, "make a hole" is a command or phrase used to tell a group of people to get out of the way to allow someone or something to pass. It's a way of creating space for a priority movement or task. (AI summary)