Camel: From the Hebrew gamal, "to repay" or "requite," as the camel does
the care of its master. There are two distinct species of camels,
having, however, the common characteristics of being "ruminants
without horns, without muzzle, with nostrils forming oblique slits,
the upper lip divided and separately movable and extensile, the soles
of the feet horny, with two toes covered by claws, the limbs long,
the abdomen drawn up, while the neck, long and slender, is bent up
and down, the reverse of that of a horse, which is arched."1. The Bactrian camel is distinguished by two humps. It is a native
of the high table-lands of Central Asia.
2. The Arabian camel or dromedary, from the Greek dromos, "a
runner"
(Isaiah 60:6; Jeremiah 2:23) has but one hump, and is a native of
Western Asia or Africa. The camel was early used both for riding
and as a beast of burden
(Genesis 24:64; 37:25) and in war
(1 Samuel 30:17)
(Isaiah 21:7) Mention is made of the camel among the cattle given by
Pharaoh to Abraham
(Genesis 12:16) Its flesh was not to be eaten, as
it was ranked among unclean animals
(Leviticus 11:4; Deuteronomy 14:7) Abraham's
servant rode on a camel when he went to fetch a wife for Isaac
(Genesis 24:10,11) Jacob had camels as a portion of his wealth
(Genesis 30:43) as Abraham also had
(Genesis 24:35) He sent a present of
thirty milch camels to his brother Esau
(Genesis 32:15) It appears
to have been little in use among the Jews after the conquest.
It is, however, mentioned in the history of David
(1 Chronicles 27:30)
and after the Exile
(Ezra 2:67; Nehemiah 7:69) Camels were much in
use among other nations in the East. The queen of Sheba came
with a caravan of camels when she came to see the wisdom of
Solomon
(1 Kings 10:2; 2 Chronicles 9:1) Benhadad of Damascus also sent a
present to Elisha, "forty camels' burden"
(2 Kings 8:9) To show
the difficulty in the way of a rich man's entering into the
kingdom, our Lord uses the proverbial expression that it was
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
(Matthew 19:24)
To strain at (rather, out) a gnat and swallow a camel was also
a proverbial expression
(Matthew 23:24) used with reference to
those who were careful to avoid small faults, and yet did not
hesitate to commit the greatest sins. The Jews carefully
filtered their wine before drinking it, for fear of swallowing
along with it some insect forbidden in the law as unclean, and
yet they omitted openly the "weightier matters" of the law. The
raiment worn by John the Baptist was made of camel's hair
(Matthew 3:4; Mark 1:6) by which he was distinguished from those who
resided in royal palaces and wore soft raiment. This was also
the case with Elijah
(2 Kings 1:8) who is called "a hairy man,"
from his wearing such raiment. "This is one of the most
admirable materials for clothing; it keeps out the heat, cold,
and rain." The "sackcloth" so often alluded to
(2 Kings 1:8; Isaiah 15:3)
(Zechariah 13:4) etc.) was probably made of camel's hair.
