Nedabiah (Hastings' Dictionary)

A descendant of David, 1 Ch 318 (B Δενεθεί, Α" NaSadlas, Luc. Nadafid). NEEDLE’S EYE (τρῆμα [var. lec. τρυπήμα] ῥαφίδος, Mt 19%; τρυμαλιὰ ῥαφίδος, Mk 1035; τρῆμα βελόνης, Lk 18*).—The ΠΟΡΟΒΟΙΡΗΣΥ of a camel’s passing through the eye of a needle is used by esus to emphasize the difficulty of a rich man’s entering into the kingdom of God. An attempt is some- times made to explain the needle’s eye as a refer- ence to the small door, a little over 2 ft.

square, in the large heavy gate of a walled city. This mars the figure without materially altering the meaning, and receives no justification from the language and traditions of Palestine. There is no custom of calling this small opening ‘the eye’; it is senally named ‘the small door,’ ‘hole,’ or ‘window.’ If there were such a custom, it would not help the interpretation suggested, because Orientals never speak of the eye of a needle; it is simply the s/it or hole, 14 hur, Arab. khurm.

The literal meaning is therefore to be preferred.* See, further, Swete on Mk 105, and art. CAMEL in vol. i. p. 345°. G. M. MAcKIE. NEEDLEWORK is tr® in AV of two Heb. ex- pressions : (a) 075 avyp (Ex 26% 2716 28% 3657 3818 39%), the exact rendering of which is ‘work of the variegator’ (so OPB uniformly ; RV gives ‘work of the embroiderer’); (ὁ) appr (Jg 5”, Ps 45%, 1 Ch 29, and 8 times in Ezk), a name which also signifies ‘variegated work’ (Moore, Judges, ad loc.)

, and is used of embroidery in which patterns were worked with a needle in various colours (RV in Jg ‘embroidery,’ in Ps and 7 times in Ezk “broidered work’; once ‘divers colours,’ so also 1Ch 29%, Against this being ‘embroidery,’ see op Dillm. on Ex 26%), eedlework is much prized and universally ractised in the East.

ce is made of great elicacy and beauty of pattern, and designs in different colours of silk, rendered more lustrous by threads of silver and gold, are sewn upon cotton, linen, silk, and woollen materials.

Chil- dren devote themselves to it at an early age; among the poorer classes young women earn their mairiage portion by patiently and skilfully pro- ducing work of considerable market value, and among the secluded women of rich Oriental families the gradual progress of a piece of needle- work is a subject of interest and a connecting link in empty hours and aimless days. G. M. MACKIE.