Camel

The word 'camel,' in its various forms, appears a total of 61 times in the Bible; 55x in the OT (spread over 52 verses), and 6x in the NT (over the same number of verses) in the NIV.

(All citations are from the NIV)

Gen 12:16 — He [Pharaoh] treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.

Gen 24:10 — Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and left, taking with him all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor.

Gen 24:11 — He made the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was towards evening, the time the women go out to draw water. [Then he prayed, "O Lord, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.]

Gen 24:14 — May it be that when I say to a girl,`Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,' and she says,`Drink, and I'll water your camels too'—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master."

Gen 24:19 — After she had given him a drink, she said, "I'll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking."

Gen 24:20 — So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels.

Gen 24:22 — When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels.

Gen 24:30 — As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister's arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring.

Gen 24:31 — Come, you who are blessed by the Lord," he said. "Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels."

Gen 24:32 — So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder were brought for the camels, and water for him and his men to wash their feet.

Gen 24:35 — The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, and camels and donkeys.

Gen 24:44 — [See, I am standing beside this spring; if a maiden comes out to draw water and I say to her, "Please let me drink a little water from your jar,"] and if she says to me, "Drink, and I'll draw water for your camels too," let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master's son.'

Gen 24:46 — "She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said,`Drink, and I'll water your camels too.' So I drank, and she watered the camels also.

Gen 24:61 — hen Rebekah and her maids got ready and mounted their camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.

Gen 24:63 — He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching.

Gen 24:64 — Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel [and asked the servant, "Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?" "He is my master," the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.]

Gen 30:43 — In this way the man [Jacob] grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys.

Gen 31:17 — hen Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, [and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.]

Gen 31:34 — Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel's saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing.

Gen 32:7 — In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well. [He thought, "If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape."]

Gen 32:15 — [(Jacob) spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: . . . ] thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.

Gen 37:25 — As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.

Exo 9:3 — [If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back], the hand of the Lord will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses and donkeys and camels and on your cattle and sheep and goats.

Lev 11:4 — "'There are some that only chew the cud or only have a split hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you.

Deut 14:7 — However, of those that chew the cud or that have a split hoof completely divided you may not eat the camel, the rabbit or the coney. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a split hoof; they are ceremonially unclean for you.

Judg 6:5 — They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it.

Judg 7:12 — The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.

Judg 8:21 — Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Come, do it yourself.`As is the man, so is his strength.'" So Gideon stepped forward and killed them, and took the ornaments off their camels' necks.

Judg 8:26 — The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels' necks.

1 Sam 15:3 — Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'"

1 Sam 27:9 — Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish.

1 Sam 30:17 — David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day, and none of them got away, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled. [David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back.]

1 Ki 10:2 — Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she [the Queen of Sheba] came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind.

2 Ki 8:9 — Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him as a gift forty camel-loads of all the finest wares of Damascus. He went in and stood before him, and said, "Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask,`Will I recover from this illness?'"

1 Chron 5:21 — They seized the livestock of the Hagrites—fifty thousand camels, two hundred and fifty thousand sheep and two thousand donkeys. They also took one hundred thousand people captive,

1 Chron 12:40 — Also, their neighbours from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun and Naphtali came bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules and oxen. There were plentiful supplies of flour, fig cakes, raisin cakes, wine, oil, cattle and sheep, for there was joy in Israel.

1 Chron 27:30 — Obil the Ishmaelite was in charge of the camels. Jehdeiah the Meronothite was in charge of the donkeys.

2 Chron 9:1 — When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. Arriving with a very great caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all she had on her mind.

2 Chron 14:15 — They also attacked the camps of the herdsmen and carried off droves of sheep and goats and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

Ezra 2:67 — [The whole company numbered 42,360, 65 besides their 7,337 menservants and maidservants; and they also had 200 men and women singers. 66 They had 736 horses, 245 mules,] 67 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys. [When they arrived at the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the families gave freewill offerings towards the rebuilding of the house of God on its site.]

Neh 7:69 — [The whole company numbered 42,360, 67 besides their 7,337 menservants and maidservants; and they also had 245 men and women singers. There were 736 horses, 245 mules,] 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys.

Job 1:3 — [He had seven sons and three daughters,] and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.

Job 1:17 — While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"

Job 42:12 — The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys.

Isa 21:7 — [This is what the Lord says to me: "Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees.] The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys.

Isa 30:6 — An oracle concerning the animals of the Negev: Through a land of hardship and distress, of lions and lionesses, of adders and darting snakes, the envoys carry their riches on donkeys' backs, their treasures on the humps of camels, to that unprofitable nation, [o Egypt, whose help is utterly useless. Therefore I call her Rahab the Do-Nothing.]

Isa 60:6 — Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.

Isa 66:20 — And they will bring all your brothers, from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord—on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels," says the Lord. "They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the Lord in ceremonially clean vessels.

Jer 49:29 — Their tents and their flocks will be taken; their shelters will be carried off with all their goods and camels. Men will shout to them,`Terror on every side!'

Jer 49:32 — Their camels will become plunder, and their large herds will be booty. I will scatter to the winds those who are in distant places and will bring disaster on them from every side," declares the Lord.

Eze 25:5 — I will turn Rabbah into a pasture for camels and Ammon into a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the Lord. [For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet, rejoicing with all the malice of your heart against the land of Israel, . . .]

Zec 14:15 — A similar plague will strike the horses and mules, the camels and donkeys, and all the animals in those camps. [Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.]

Matt 3:4 — John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt round his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.

Matt 19:24 — Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Matt 23:24 — ["Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practised the latter, without neglecting the former.] You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

Mk 1:6 — John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt round his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. [And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.]

Mk 10:25 — It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Lk 18:25 — Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Note: the word 'she-camel' appears in Jer 2:23. The Hebrew word there (bikra) is a rare and feminine form that appears nowhere else in the OT; it is derived from a root which basically means 'first born.'