Strain a gnat, swallow a camel

By Elizabeth Prata

Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. (Matthew 23:24)

What I love about the puns, parables, and sayings of the ancient Palestinian world in the Bible is that you can understand the main concept it’s presenting on the face of it. But if you dig a bit, there is always more meaning to be gained. By looking into the context, history, and natural history we can learn more.

In Matthew 23:24, gnat means gnat or mosquito- something small. We immediately see the contrast, big vs. small. Jesus was saying the Pharisees work hard at getting something small out of the way while ignoring something big.

But if we dig, and ask ourselves, ‘Why would the Pharisees work at straining out a gnat?’ there is more understanding to be gained…

Looking further, there is an Old Testament link to this. Leviticus 11:20 23. 41, and 42 mention winged things as detestable. They were not to eat them.

All the winged insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you. Yet these you may eat among all the winged insects that walk on all fours: those which have jointed legs above their feet with which to jump on the earth. (Leviticus 11:20-22).

So in the New Testament, the Pharisees, hyper-keepers of the Law, so intent on arranging their lives so as to show they were precise in keeping it, used a cloth to strain out any insects that may have fallen into their drink, so they would not be breaking the law. Here is a Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary comment on that:

Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat—The proper rendering—as in the older English translations, and perhaps our own as it came from the translators’ hands—evidently is, “strain out.” It was the custom, says Trench, of the stricter Jews to strain their wine, vinegar, and other potables through linen or gauze, lest unawares they should drink down some little unclean insect therein and thus transgress (Leviticus 11:20, 23, 41, 42)—just as the Buddhists do now in Ceylon and Hindustan—and to this custom of theirs our Lord here refers.

and swallow a camel—the largest animal the Jews knew, as the “gnat” was the smallest; both were by the law unclean. End Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary.

In his magazine The Sword and Trowel, Charles Spurgeon wrote in 1877,

“The note on this in the “Pictorial Bible” is valuable:—”In the East, where insects of all kinds abound, it is difficult to keep clear of insects liquors which are left for the least time uncovered; for which reason it was and is usual to strain the wine before drinking, to prevent insects from passing into the drinking vessel. Beside the common motive of cleanliness for this practice, the Jews considered that they had another and more important one—that of religious purity. For as the law forbade them to eat ‘flying creeping things,’ they thought themselves bound to be particularly careful in this matter . . . The Talmud contains many curious explanations and directions relating to it.”

In thinking about this idea of smaller-to-larger even further by making a connection with the mention of taking the splinter out of a brother’s eye but ignoring the plank in our own. Do we strain out the little things in our life, but ignore the big things? Do we have a hyper fixation on attending church (as a show) but fail to do slay any lustful thoughts? Do we make a show of tithing but fail to give mercy to those who need it? Do we stalwartly refuse to take a pen home from work even accidentally, but cheat on the taxes? And so on.

The Bible’s parables and sayings are interesting parts of the Lord’s word. ALL the Bible has meaning, whether you skim and understand on the surface, or dig deeper. Either way, the key is to THINK about what you read, and not just the ‘big things’ like doctrinal commands, but the ‘little things’ too- whether it’s a doxology, a list of greetings, a seemingly murky proverb or parable, or anything else; and ask the Spirit to absorb it into your heart and transform your mind.