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)

complete verse (Genesis 24:20)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 24:20:

  • Kankanaey: “She immediately-poured-out what was-remaining in the jar into the drinking-trough which was the place-for-drinking of the animals and ran-immediately to draw-water again. She did-it-repeatedly (lit. repeated-and-repeated) until all the camels had-been-watered (form of the verb to drink),” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “She quickly poured out all the water into the camel’s water drinking trough. And [she] brought water until they had had enough to drink.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “She quickly poured-out the water into the place-of-drinking for the animals and she returned to the well to-draw-water again. She continued to-draw-water until all the camels were-able-to-drink.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “She quickly emptied the water in her jar into the trough for giving water to animals, and then ran back to the well, and kept getting water for all the camels.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 24:20

So she quickly emptied her jar: So signals a consequence. This may or may not be required in the discourse.

Into the trough: nothing has been said about an animal watering trough because the ancient reader expected it to be there. In some languages, however, it may be necessary to make some adjustment to introduce the trough; for example, “There was a trough where animals drink, and she quickly emptied her jar into it.” In areas where drinking troughs for animals are unknown, it is often necessary to use a descriptive phrase such as “a stone box where animals drink” or “a place for pouring out water for animals to drink.”

Ran again to the well: well is again the same word used in verse 11. It was recommended in verse 13 to retain one word in reference to the well throughout the chapter.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .