Jeremiah 13:23

13:23 But there is little hope for you ever doing good,

you who are so accustomed to doing evil.

Can an Ethiopian ¹  change the color of his skin?

Can a leopard remove its spots? ² 

Matthew 7:3-5

7:3 Why ³  do you see the speck ⁴  in your brother’s eye, but fail to see ⁵  the beam of wood ⁶  in your own? 7:4 Or how can you say ⁷  to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while there is a beam in your own? 7:5 You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Matthew 19:24-25

19:24 Again I say, ⁸  it is easier for a camel ⁹  to go through the eye of a needle ¹⁰  than for a rich person to enter into the kingdom of God.” 19:25 The ¹¹  disciples were greatly astonished when they heard this and said, “Then who can be saved?” ¹² 

Matthew 23:24

23:24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel! ¹³ 

Luke 18:25

18:25 In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle ¹⁴  than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

[13:23]  ¹ tn This is a common proverb in English coming from this biblical passage. For cultures where it is not proverbial perhaps it would be better to translate “Can black people change the color of their skin?” Strictly speaking these are “Cushites” inhabitants of a region along the upper Nile south of Egypt. The Greek text is responsible for the identification with Ethiopia. The term in Greek is actually a epithet = “burnt face.”

[13:23]  ² tn Heb “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? [Then] you also will be able to do good who are accustomed to do evil.” The English sentence has been restructured and rephrased in an attempt to produce some of the same rhetorical force the Hebrew original has in this context.

[7:3]  ³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[7:3]  ⁴ sn The term translated speck refers to a small piece of wood, chaff, or straw; see L&N 3.66.

[7:3]  ⁵ tn Or “do not notice.”

[7:3]  ⁶ sn The term beam of wood refers to a very big piece of wood, the main beam of a building, in contrast to the speck in the other’s eye (L&N 7.78).

[7:4]  ⁷ tn Grk “how will you say?”

[19:24]  ⁸ tn Grk “I say to you.”

[19:24]  ⁹ tc A few late witnesses (579 1424 pc) read κάμιλον (kamilon, “rope”) for κάμηλον (kamhlon, “camel”), either through accidental misreading of the text or intentionally so as to soften Jesus’ words.

[19:24]  ¹⁰ sn The eye of a needle refers to a sewing needle. (The gate in Jerusalem known as “The Needle’s Eye” was built during the middle ages and was not in existence in Jesus’ day.) Jesus was saying rhetorically that it is impossible for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom, unless God (v. 26) intervenes.

[19:25]  ¹¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[19:25]  ¹² sn The assumption is that the rich are blessed, so if they risk exclusion, who is left to be saved?

[23:24]  ¹³ tn Grk “Blind guides who strain out a gnat yet who swallow a camel!”

[18:25]  ¹⁴ sn The eye of a needle refers to a sewing needle, one of the smallest items one might deal with on a regular basis, in contrast to the biggest animal of the region. (The gate in Jerusalem known as “The Needle’s Eye” was built during the middle ages and was not in existence in Jesus’ day.) Jesus is saying rhetorically that this is impossible, unless God (v. 27) intervenes.