StrongerBible

gamal

גָּמָל

HebrewH1581camel, camels

Appears 54 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 12:16Gen 24:10 (2×)Gen 24:11Gen 24:14Gen 24:19Gen 24:20Gen 24:22Gen 24:30Gen 24:31Gen 24:32 (2×)Gen 24:35Gen 24:44Gen 24:46 (2×)Gen 24:61Gen 24:63Gen 24:64Gen 31:34Gen 37:25Lev 11:4Deu 14:7Jdg 6:5Jdg 7:12Jdg 8:21Jdg 8:261Sa 15:32Ki 8:91Ch 5:21Ezr 2:67Isa 21:7Jer 49:29Jer 49:32Zec 14:15
Root family
Word studygah-MAHLnoun

What gamal means

camel: the large humped desert animal used for riding, carrying loads, and as a measure of wealth

TranslatabilityDirectCertaintySettled

This is the ordinary word for the camel, the tall humped animal that could cross stretches of desert other livestock could not. In the Bible the camel is above all a beast of burden and long-distance travel: it carries people, goods, and the gifts and dowries that move between families and nations.

Because a herd of camels represented serious wealth, the word often appears in lists that size up how rich a person or a raiding tribe was, right alongside sheep, cattle, and donkeys. It is also the animal of the caravan and the nomad, so it turns up wherever traders, Midianites, or desert raiders are on the move.

The meaning is steady throughout: every occurrence points to the same animal. The variety is in the setting, not in the sense, which is why a single plain definition covers the whole range.

Gen 12:16Gen 24:10 (2×)Gen 24:11Gen 24:14Gen 24:19Gen 24:20Gen 24:22Gen 24:30Gen 24:31Gen 24:32 (2×)Gen 24:35Gen 24:44

What scholars say about gamal

The standard lexica (BDB, HALOT, DCH) treat גָּמָל as monosemous: the camel (Camelus dromedarius, the one-humped dromedary of the Levant and Arabia, with the two-humped Bactrian known from Mesopotamian trade). The word is a common Semitic term, cognate with Arabic jamal, Akkadian gammalu, and the source, through Greek κάμηλος and Latin camelus, of the English word. It is unrelated in sense to the homographic root גמל "to deal out, ripen, wean" (HALOT distinguishes the two). The dietary lists in Leviticus 11:4 and Deuteronomy 14:7 class it among unclean animals. Scholarship has debated the historicity of camel domestication in the patriarchal narratives (Genesis 12; 24; 30 to 32), with some (e.g. Sapir-Hen and Ben-Yosef on the archaeozoological evidence) arguing widespread domestication came later; this is a question about dating and realia, not about what the word denotes.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. גָּמָלlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. גָּמָלlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. גָּמָלlexicon
  • Sapir-Hen and Ben-Yosef, "The Introduction of Domestic Camels to the Southern Levant," Tel Aviv 40 (2013)article

All attested forms of גָּמָל

c p absolute

גְּמַלִּים

Gen 12:16, Gen 24:10, Gen 24:11, Gen 24:22, Gen 24:30, Gen 24:31, Gen 24:32, Gen 24:32

m p construct

גְּמַלֵּיהֶם

Gen 37:25, Jdg 6:5, Jdg 7:12, Jdg 8:21, Jdg 8:26, 1Ch 5:21, Ezr 2:67, Jer 49:29

c s absolute

גָּמָל

Gen 24:64, Gen 31:34, Lev 11:4, Deu 14:7, 1Sa 15:3, 2Ki 8:9, Isa 21:7, Zec 14:15

m p construct

גְּמַלֶּיךָ

Gen 24:14, Gen 24:19, Gen 24:44, Gen 24:46

c p construct

גְּמַלֵּי

Gen 24:10

m p construct

גְּמַלָּיו

Gen 24:20