τοῦ

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 τοῦ

   tou

   of the
2. sentence🔊 εὐκοπώτερον γάρ ἐστιν κάμηλον διὰ τρήματος βελόνης εἰσελθεῖν ἢ πλούσιον εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ εἰσελθεῖν

   eu-ko-PO-te-ron GAR ES-tin KA-mê-lon di-A TRÊ-ma-tos be-LO-nês ei-sel-THEIN Ê PLOU-si-on eis tên ba-si-LEI-an tou the-OU ei-sel-THEIN

   easier for it is a camel through an opening of a needle to enter than a rich person into the kingdom of the God to enter

Exegesis

The comparative conjunction e {ἢ | ē} “than” coordinates a second infinitival clause, plousion eis ten basileian tou theou eiselthein {πλούσιον εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ εἰσελθεῖν | ploúsion eis tēn basileían tou theoû eiseltheîn}, paralleling the first structure and placing the rich man as the accusative subject of entering. The prepositional phrase eis ten basileian tou theou marks the divine realm as goal, with the genitive tou theou indicating that the kingdom belongs to or is ruled by God. The parallel infinitives joined by the comparison build an extreme hyperbolic image, which is preserved in English by retaining the infinitive “to enter” construction and the familiar idiom “eye of a needle,” allowing the rhetorical force of impossibility to remain clear.