(2) -i^ia bikr^, pi. const, of ^^3 b/=ker (Is 60"), is rendered in both AV and RV dromcrlnries. rrirs bikr/ih (Jer 2'") is also rendered dromedary, with the pronoun her following, to indicate that a female is intended. The etymological signification of both, however, is yoitntj camel, (so RVm) the first male, and the Bccond/cm'(/e. They correspond both in form and meaning with the Arab, bckr and bekrnh. In both, the allusion is to the vigour and swiftness of youth. In the pa.s.sage in Isaiah there is a climax, ' the multitudes of camels shall cover thee, the young camels (bikr^) of Midian.' It is similar to the climax in the case of Lamech, ' I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to
my hurt.' Lane says, ' the term bekr = young camel, applied to a camel, corresjionds to fata = yuung man, applied to a human being ; and bekrnh, a young female camel, to fatdt, a young wunuui. Bckr and fata are more specialised than the general terms jamal = camel, and rajul=man ; and bekrah a.nd/atii! are more specialised than nakah =femnle camel, and mar at = woman. And in both pairs of cases the specialised words refer to excellence.' There is nothing in the Heb. original in the above passages, nor in its Arab, equivalent, to indicate that it was the intention of the respective writers to refer to a blooded camel (dromedary), an animal for which the Heb. contains no word. The Arab, has such a word, hajin, but beker is not its equivalent, as above shown. Some have sup- posed that nil"!? kirkarGth, which is rendered in AV and RV 'swift beasts' (Is 66=»), means dromedaries (so RVm), deriving it from "nj to leap or gallop, alluding to the lon^ trot of the dromedary. If so, this would be an additional reason for not identifying beker and bekr&h with the dromedary. It is more probable, however, that we shoukl regard rnyij as a reduplicated form of -Q kar = palanquin (Gn 31" the Arab, haudaj). With this corresponds the LXX rendering ffxidfia, and the Vulg. carrucce.
Twice the camel, on account of its being the largest animal familiar to all in Bible lands, is used to point a moral. Once, to rebuke the hypo- crisy of the Pharisees and scribes, it is said (Mt 23" RV), ' Ye blind guides, which strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel.' Again it is said (Mt 19"), ' It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.' The hyperbole here is no more striking than that of the preceding passage. Some, claiming a knowledge of the E. from birth or long residence, have said that this latter comparison had its origin in the custom of stripping a camel — belatgd until the great gate of a city was closed for the night, so that it could no longer enter in the usual way — of its load, and pulling or pushing it through the small gate which is made in the panel of the larger one. They have alleged that the force of the comparison is to be sought in the fact that a rich man must be stripped of his wealth to enable him to squeeze through the narrow gate of heaven, as the camel is stripped of his load that he may be forced through the panel gate of the city. Some have even gone so far as to say that this small gate is known in the E. by the name of the 'needle's eye.' In reply, we would say— (I) That this small gate is known by the name khaukhah, but no one of the many whom we have asked ever heard the name needle s eye applied to it. We believe this to bo a fabri- cation. (2) No camel could be forced through the khaukhah. It is a gate from 3 to 4 feet in height, and from 18 inches to 2 feet in' breadth, and its bottom is from 1 to 2 feet above the ground, and by no possibility could a camel be got through it. (3) Could we suppose a khaukhah so exceptionally large that a camel could be forced through it, the hyperbole would be quite lost. G. E. Post.
CAMEL'S HAIR (Mt3*, Mk !•).— The cloth made of camel's hair is of blanket-like texture, softer than the black sack-doth of goat's hair. In colour it varies from cream to cinnamon and darker brown, so that by means of this variety a pattern is Bometinies introduced to relieve slightlv tlic general dinginess of tone. The large enveloping garment, with its plain belt of leather, which Jolm the Baptist wore, was the common and incoii spicuous dress of the desert: it was a euflicieiii covering by day and night, and doubtless he had
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CAMP
CAJ^A
come to prefer it. It was the harmonious vesture of the prophet when he delivered his inessa<je of protest and preparation, and such simplicity ot per- sonal life is still the consistent accompaniment of any voice crying against social luxury and ecclesi- astical pride. iSee Caiiel. G. M. Mackie.
CAMP is the usual rendering of the Heb. njqo mahdneh, tr^ in LXX irape^/JoXiJ. In 2 K G'* it re- presents njGO tahunah, on which see Oxf. Ileb. Lex.