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 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)

survive / escape / save

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “survive,” “escape,” “save,” or similar in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) in these verses with pulumuka, describing someone whose life was in danger but who has freed himself or herself. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

complete verse (1 Samuel 30:17)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 30:17:

  • Kupsabiny: “At dawn, David with his people immediately raced towards their enemies and fought them to evening. Very many of those Amalekites were killed. The people who escaped were only four hundred young men who climbed their camels and fled.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “But David attacked to them and continued fighting until the evening of the next day. Among them only 400 young men escaped, riding camels.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “David and his men attacked them, and they fought all night until the next night. None of the Amaleknon were-able-to-escape aside-from just 400 young-men who rode-(off) on camels and fled.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “David and his men fought against them from sunset that day until the evening of the following day. Four hundred of them escaped and rode away on camels, but none of the others escaped.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

David

The name that is transliterated as “David” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign signifying king and a sling (referring to 1 Samuel 17:49 and 2 Samuel 5:4). (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. )


“Elizabeth” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

In German Sign Language it is only the sling. (See here ).


“David” in German Sign Language (source )

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

The (Protestant) Mandarin Chinese transliteration of “David” is 大卫 (衛) / Dàwèi which carries an additional meaning of “Great Protector.”

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

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: David .

Translation commentary on 1 Samuel 30:17

David smote them: though the writer mentions only David, the sense is that David and his troops attacked and defeated them, since his troops are explicitly mentioned in verse 20 (see the comments on 19.8).

From twilight: the word so translated may be understood as referring to the time of day when there is imperfect light, just before sunrise or just after sunset. The English word “twilight” usually refers more specifically to the time just after sunset, and this is the usual sense of this word in the Old Testament. According to the Revised Standard Version (and New Revised Standard Version) rendering, readers will therefore have the impression that the battle began just after sunset one day and continued until the evening of the next day (literally “their next day”). The majority of versions, however, take this term to refer to the time just before sunrise. The fighting would therefore have lasted throughout the daylight hours of a single day (Good News Translation, New American Bible, Contemporary English Version, Nueva Biblia Española), or possibly “from before dawn until the evening of the next day” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh; similarly Bible en français courant and New Jerusalem Bible). Since a new day began for the Israelites at sunset, the evening of the next day will refer to the evening after the battle of that day. That evening is the beginning of the next day for the Israelites. The only question is whether the battle began early that morning or the previous evening. The recommendation of this handbook is to translate “from dawn….”

Escaped: see the comments on 19.10.

Camels (see also 15.3 and 27.9) are unknown in some parts of the world. In languages that do not have a word for camels, it may be necessary to borrow the word from a major language known to speakers of the receptor language and to say “they mounted on animals called camels and fled.”

Some interpreters propose that the Hebrew text should be changed to read “From dawn to sundown David attacked them, putting them under the ban so that none escaped…” (New American Bible and early editions of Bible de Jérusalem). This proposed change is not widely accepted, and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project gives a {B} rating to the Masoretic Text. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament does not even discuss this problem since this is not a textual problem. New American Bible and the other translations mentioned are based on conjectures about what the Hebrew text probably read.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .