ISRAEL PHOTOS III  -- A COLLECTION OF PHOTOS FROM ISRAEL 

WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF SCENES AND SITES PERTINENT TO THE STUDY OF CHRISTIANITY

THE CAMEL


Dromedary Camel -- near Ein Hatzveta/Negev-Aravah 2006

The camel above has its legs tied to prevent it from running away.


A boy and his camels, near Yeroham/Machtesh Ha-Gadol, 2006

Isaiah 60:6 (WEB) A multitude of camels will cover you, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah. All from Sheba will come. They will bring gold and frankincense, and will proclaim the praises of Yahweh.

A camel was able to carry three hundred pounds and go days without water. The camel gave milk to her herders. One camel was able to go ten days without drinking. During the days of Jesus, the Nabateans of the desert used camel caravans to gain wealth by trading. Nabatean caravans may have transported incense, spice, pearls, and gold from Arabia in the south to Petra, Gaza, Damascus, Palmyra, Babylonia and parts in between.

While in Jerusalem, Jesus was rebuking some of the religious teachers of his day: Matthew 23:24 (WEB) You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!

The passage above seems like a description of someone straining a gnat out of water before drinking it, then erring in eating a whole camel like a glutton. There is some probability the original text might have been "you strain out a gnat, but swallow like a camel(?)." Jews were not allowed to eat camels and Jesus' audience was usually Jewish. By Jewish law camel meat is unclean as it does not have a split hoof even though it "chews the cud" (Leviticus 11:1-8). It was not kosher to "swallow a camel." Drinking too much water may lead to blindness or death. Under normal circumstances one should not guzzle like a thirsty camel filling up after being without a drink in a week. A no salt added or low sodium diet may reduce excessive thirst.

Matthew 19:24 (World English Bible): Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into God’s Kingdom.” 25 When the disciples heard it, they were exceedingly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”

An ancient Greek word for camel is kamelos. In one text an ancient Syriac/Semitic word for rope was kamilos and was translated into Greek as kamelos (camel). Some people would rather like to substitute the word rope in this parable such as, "It is easier to thread a rope through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."

See also:  http://tmcdaniel.palmerseminary.edu/camel-hawser.pdf
See also:  http://dqhall.com/israelphotosII/camel.htm

Parable of the Mustard Seed
     A Mustard Field Along Highway 87-North Shore of Galilee
     Mustard Seeds in the Palm of a Hand
     Mustard Flowers
     Giant Mustard
     Upper Most Seats of the Synagogue
The Fig Tree
     Mt of Olives Fig Tree, April 12-13, 2005
     Fig and Pomegranite Trees Below Siloam in Jerusalem
     Sycomore Fig Tree
The Good Shepherd
The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats
     Goat Herder
Camels
Ritual Cleansing
Shechem
     The Olive Harvest of Samaria
     Mt. Ebal
     Olive Tree
Pearl of Great Price
A First Century Synagogue at Gamala
     Overview of Gamala
Modern Galilee Fishing Boats
Kursi
     Caves and/or Tombs
     Steep Slope Near Kursi
Hippos
Feeding the 5,000
     On the Mountain
     Walking on Water
     Ramot-Tzelon area
Mt. Hermon
The Pools of Bethesda in Jerusalem
     Healing Pools
     Crusader Chapel and St. Ann Church
Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem
     Hezekiah's Tunnel
     Overlook to Siloam
Tower of Siloam
A Watch Tower in a Vineyard/Olive Grove
     Grape Vines at Beth Horan
     Towers
Mt. Precipice
     South Face
     Summit
     Over the edge
     Measuring Line
     View of Nazareth from near Megiddo
Nazareth
     The Basilica of the Annunciation
Capernaum

Healing a Paralytic in Capernaum
Bethsaida
Waterskins and Wineskins
The Fish and the Coin
     Barbel
A Denarius
Casting Out a Demon
The Road to Jericho
     Old Roman Road
     Wilderness Above Jericho
     Old Jericho
Western Wall
Gethsemane and the Cave of Gethsemane
Church of the Holy Sepulcher
Rolling Stone Tombs - Jerusalem
    Other Rolling Stone Tombs
Tiberias
Solar Power in Israel
Salt of the earth
Chorazin

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OTHER WEB SITES BY DAVID HALL:

Israel Photos VI
Israel Photos V -- Spring 2011
Israel Photos IV -- Pilgrimage

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