The much-quoted metaphor of the camel and the needle is probably based on a mistranslation, anyway. First, it is an uncharacteristically poor parallel; for a camel has nothing to do with a needle. Second, the Aramaic words for camel and rope are so similar that open must stare at the words for some time to tell the difference. You can see this in the introduction to Gregor Lamsa’s translation “The Authorized Bible of the Church of the East.” Next, if we read the phrase as a rope through the eye of a needle, it becomes an obvious hyperbole: an exaggeration for effect. It makes sense, whereas a camel going through the eye of a needle is just nonsense.
It is somewhat amazing that even modern translations of the New Testament have seldom caught onto this. If you do not understand hyperbole and paradox, you can hardly be expected to understand the parables and sayings of the New Testament.
I thought “the needle” was an entrance to a town that was small enough to keep camels out, no?