camel

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated in English as “camel” is translated in Muna as “water buffalo.” René van den Berg explains: “Camels are unknown; the biggest known animal is the water buffalo (though now rare on Muna).”

In Bislama is is translated as buluk: “cow” / “bull” (source: Ross McKerras) and in Bahnar as aseh lăk-đa which is a combination of the Vietnamese loan word for “camel” (lăk-đa) and the Bahnar term for “horse” (aseh) to communicate that the camel is a beast of burden (source: Pham Xuan Tin in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 20ff. ).

In the 1900 Kalaallisut (Greenlandic) translation (a newer version was published in 2000) it was translated as ĸatigagtôĸ or “big-backed ones.” “Katigagtôĸ (modern qatigattooq), which has the literal meaning of ‘something with a big back.’ It comprises the noun ĸatigak (modern qatigak) ‘back’ combined with the suffix –tôĸ (modern –tooq) ‘something possessing a big X.’” (Source: Lily Kahn & Riitta-Liisa Valijärvi in The Bible Translator 2019, p. 125ff.)

In Luke 18:25, Mark 10:25, and Matthew 19:24 some versions of the Peshitta translation in Syriac Aramaic (Classical Syriac) show an ambiguity between the very similar words for “camel” and “rope.” Some translations of the Peshitta, therefore, use the “rope” interpretation, including the Classical Armenian Bible (մալխոյ for “rope”), the English translation by George Lamsa (publ. 1933) (It is easier for a rope to go through the eye of a needle), or the Dutch translation by Egbert Nierop (publ. 2020) (het voor een kabel eenvoudiger is het oog van een naald binnen te gaan).

In the above-mentioned three verses, it is translated in Noongar as “kangaroo” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

 

There were two types of camel known in Bible times the most common being the Arabian Dromedary camelus dromedarius, which was indigenous to the area. The two-humped Bactrian Camel camelus bactrianus was also known and prized, but it was imported from Central Asia.

Camels belong to the same family as the South American llama, vicuna, alpaca, and guanaco, but camels are much larger and have a big fatty hump on their backs. Bactrian camels may reach a height of about two meters (6.5 feet), while dromedaries are even bigger. Dromedaries are a uniform light fawn color, while Bactrian camels are darker, especially in winter when they grow longer fur.

Camels do not have hooves but a large footpad with two broad toes ideally suited to walking on sand. In other ways too they are ideally suited to life in desert areas. They store excess food in their humps and this makes it possible for them to go a long time without eating. Special blood cells also enable them to go without water for long periods. They also have a very efficient digestive system and can extract the maximum amount of nutrition from apparently dry vegetation. This adaptation to harsh environments means that camels can make long journeys through dry areas which would be beyond the abilities of other types of pack animal such as donkeys. Camels were used for riding and for carrying heavy loads. They were also used to pull carts.

In winter the fur of camels thickens and grows longer and then when summer comes they shed their winter fur in large wads. These wads of camel hair are collected and twisted into cords and ropes or spun into thread which is then used for weaving coarse cloth. This cloth was usually used for making tents but it was sometimes used for making outer robes.

Camels’ milk was used as food and drink but their meat was considered unclean by the Israelites.

In spite of the fact that camels were considered to be unclean for food they were a symbol of wealth and commerce. People or nations with many camels were automatically viewed as commercially successful and wealthy as the possession of camels opened up the possibility of transporting goods long distances and engaging in trade.

In areas where camels are not known, the word is often transliterated from Hebrew or the dominant language of the area. However, in some languages descriptive names have been invented. In some South American languages names meaning “hump-backed llama” or “big alpaca with a hump” have been used. Elsewhere expressions such as “hump-backed horse” have been used. A fuller description should usually be included in a glossary or word list.

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

For information on the domestication of camels, see Early camel incidents in the Hebrew Bible .

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about camels (source: Bible Lands 2012)

Translation commentary on 2 Esdras 15:35 - 15:36

They shall dash against one another: The pronoun They refers to the clouds. This clause may be rendered “They will collide head-on” (Good News Bible) or “They will crash into each other” (similarly Contemporary English Version).

And shall pour out a heavy tempest upon the earth, and their own tempest: Tempest renders the Latin word for “star” (sidus; see the comments on verse 13). Here we understand the Latin phrase for a heavy tempest to mean “a group of stars,” since the word for heavy is literally “copious.” Myers translates “a host of stars.” To be sure, it is a strange picture for a host of stars to fall from the sky, but that is normal in this type of literature (compare Rev 6.13). We may render this clause as “and a heavy rain of stars will fall to the earth, including the greatest of their stars” or “and a large numbers of stars will fall to the earth….” The “host of stars” probably refers to military leaders, and “their own star” (their own tempest) to one leader in particular.

And there shall be blood from the sword as high as a horse’s belly and a man’s thigh and a camel’s hock: Compare Rev 14.20. Here the word sword is an image for “war” (Good News Bible), as in 2Esdras 15.5 (see the comments there). For a discussion on horse and camel, see the comments on 1 Esd 5.41-43. The hock of an animal, such as a camel, a horse, or a dog, is not really the “knee” (Good News Bible), but the ankle of the hind legs. The ankle of such animals is about halfway between the body and the ground, like a human knee, but it bends in the opposite direction—backward. The animal’s real knee is higher up, under the belly. The animal actually walks on its toes. However, since the camel’s knee (on the front legs) is at about the same height as the hock (on the hind legs), we can translate “knees” here with no problem. This clause may be translated “Blood from the war that follows will be as deep as a horse’s belly, or a person’s thigh, or a camel’s knee.”

An alternative model for verses 35-36 is:

• 35 They will collide head-on [or, with each other], and a heavy rain of stars will fall to earth [or, a huge number of stars will fall to the earth], including the greatest of their stars. Blood from the war that follows will be as deep as a horse’s belly [or, reach up to a horse’s stomach], 36 or a person’s thigh, or a camel’s knee.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Esdras. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.