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 (Jeremiah 2:23)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Jeremiah 2:23:

  • Kupsabiny: “How are you (plur.) able to say that you have not made any mistake,
    or that you have not worshipped Baal?
    Do you not remember when you sinned in the valley?
    Please look at what you did.
    You are like young female camels
    who are distressed/nervous looking for a male.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘How can- you (plur.) -say that you (plur.) have- not -been-defiled and have- not -worshipped the images of Baal? You (plur.) think concerning what sin you (plur.) have-done in the valley of Hinom. Take-notice the sin you (plur.) have-done. You (plur.) are like a female camel that is-in-heat, who does not keep-still.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 2:23

Beginning with this verse the LORD defines in precise terms what it is that has caused “the stain of Israel’s guilt” (verse 22). And in so doing, he rejects every argument by which Israel claims to be innocent.

How can you say? has been translated by Traduction œcuménique de la Bible as “How dare you say?” This conveys the thrust of the rhetorical question quite well. We may also say “There is no way you can say.”

Defiled translates the same verb used in 2.7.

Gone after is here used in the sense of “worship” (Good News Translation) or “be devoted to” (Luther 1984). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates the negative form of this verb as “I had nothing to do with the Baals!” Like Good News Translation, translators can render the plural Baals by the singular form. Baal is first mentioned in 2.8 (see there).

The valley is identified by most scholars as the Valley of Hinnom, which flanked Jerusalem on the south. In this valley the people of Israel practiced child sacrifice and other rituals that were disgusting to the LORD (7.31-32; 19.2-6; 32.35). 2Kgs 23.10 says, “King Josiah also desecrated Topheth, the pagan place of worship in Hinnom Valley, so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter as a burnt offering to the god Molech” (Good News Translation). But evidently at the time of Jeremiah these heathen practices had been revived. Translators will not, of course, put the identification in the text. The noun construction at your way means “what you have done” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), which is made clear in Good News Translation with “how you sinned.”

Know translates the same verb used in 1.5. Luther 1984 has “consider” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “let it become clear to you.”

The adjective restive (so also An American Translation) is more literally “quick” or “swift” (Moffatt, Bright, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). But since the picture is obviously that of a “she-camel” (New American Bible, Revised English Bible, Bright) in heat, the context suggests the meaning of “frantic” (Jerusalem Bible) or “frenzied” (New American Bible).

Interlacing her tracks is best taken in the sense of “running in all directions” (Jerusalem Bible). Revised English Bible effectively translates the entire line as “you have been like a she-camel, twisting and turning as she runs.”

In many parts of the world camels are not known. Translators have sometimes rendered young camel as “young animal,” but this is too general. “Young domestic animal” is slightly better, and translators could also have “young domestic animal called camel,” borrowing the name and transliterating it. Another possibility is to use some animal that is known, as in “young donkey” or “young horse,” or to try “young animal like a horse.” (But keep in mind that a wild ass or donkey is in the next verse.) But the rendering here should not get so awkward that it obscures the rather sharp image of the biblical text.

It will be helpful in many cases to make the comparison clear from the beginning, as in “Be aware of what you have done. You are like a frantic young female camel running around in all directions” or “Look at what you’re doing! You are running around in all directions like a wild camel in heat.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .