caravan of camels when she came to see the wisdom of Solomon (1 Kings
10:2; 2 Chronicles 9:1). Benhadad of Damascus also sent a present to
Elisha, “forty camels’ burden” (2 Kings 8:9).
To show the difficulty in the way of a rich man’s entering into the
kingdom, our Lord uses the proverbial expression that it was easier for a
camel to go through the eye of a needle (Matthew 19:24).
To strain at (rather, out) a gnat and swallow a camel was also a proverbial
expression (Matthew 23:24), used with reference to those who were
careful to avoid small faults, and yet did not hesitate to commit the
greatest sins. The Jews carefully filtered their wine before drinking it, for
fear of swallowing along with it some insect forbidden in the law as
unclean, and yet they omitted openly the “weightier matters” of the law.
The raiment worn by John the Baptist was made of camel’s hair (Matthew
3:4; Mark 1:6), by which he was distinguished from those who resided in
royal palaces and wore soft raiment. This was also the case with Elijah (2
Kings 1:8), who is called “a hairy man,” from his wearing such raiment.
“This is one of the most admirable materials for clothing; it keeps out the
heat, cold, and rain.” The “sackcloth” so often alluded to (2 Kings 1:8;
Isaiah 15:3; Zechariah 13:4, etc.) was probably made of camel’s hair.
- CAMON full of stalks, a place (Judges 10:5) where Jair was buried. It has
usually been supposed to have been a city of Gilead, on the east of Jordan.
It is probably, however, the modern Tell-el-Kaimun, on the southern
slopes of Carmel, the Jokneam of Carmel (Joshua 12:22; 1 Kings 4:12),
since it is not at all unlikely that after he became judge, Jair might find it
more convenient to live on the west side of Jordan; and that he was buried
where he had lived. - CAMP During their journeys across the wilderness, the twelve tribes
formed encampments at the different places where they halted (Exodus
16:13; Numbers 2:3). The diagram here given shows the position of the
different tribes and the form of the encampment during the wanderings,
according to Numbers 1:53; 2:2-31; 3:29, 35, 38; 10:13-28.
The area of the camp would be in all about 3 square miles. After the
Hebrews entered Palestine, the camps then spoken of were exclusively
warlike (Joshua 11:5, 7; Judges 5:19, 21; 7:1; 1 Samuel 29:1; 30:9, etc.).