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trade. It was finally taken and probably destroyed by one of the Assyrian kings (Amos 6:2). It is called Calno (Isaiah 10:9) and Canneh (Ezekiel 27:23).
•CALVARY only in Luke 23:33, the Latin name Calvaria, which was used as a translation of the Greek word Kranion, by which the Hebrew word Gulgoleth was interpreted, “the place of a skull.” It probably took this name from its shape, being a hillock or low, rounded, bare elevation somewhat in the form of a human skull. It is nowhere in Scripture called a “hill.” The crucifixion of our Lord took place outside the city walls (Hebrews 13:11-13) and near the public thoroughfare. “This thing was not done in a corner.” (See GOLGOTHA.)
•CAMEL from the Hebrew gamal, “to repay” or “requite,” as the camel does the care of its master. There are two distinct species of camels, having, however, the common characteristics of being “ruminants without horns, without muzzle, with nostrils forming oblique slits, the upper lip divided and separately movable and extensile, the soles of the feet horny, with two toes covered by claws, the limbs long, the abdomen drawn up, while the neck, long and slender, is bent up and down, the reverse of that of a horse, which is arched.”
(1.) The Bactrian camel is distinguished by two humps. It is a native of the high table-lands of Central Asia.
(2.) The Arabian camel or dromedary, from the Greek dromos, “a runner” (Isaiah 60:6; Jeremiah 2:23), has but one hump, and is a native of Western Asia or Africa.
The camel was early used both for riding and as a beast of burden (Genesis 24:64; 37:25), and in war (1 Samuel 30:17; Isaiah 21:7). Mention is made of the camel among the cattle given by Pharaoh to Abraham (Genesis 12:16). Its flesh was not to be eaten, as it was ranked among unclean animals (Leviticus 11:4; Deuteronomy 14:7). Abraham’s servant rode on a camel when he went to fetch a wife for Isaac (Genesis 24:10, 11). Jacob had camels as a portion of his wealth (30:43), as Abraham also had (24:35). He sent a present of thirty milch camels to his brother Esau (32:15). It appears to have been little in use among the Jews after the conquest. It is, however, mentioned in the history of David (1 Chronicles 27:30), and after the Exile (Ezra 2:67; Nehemiah 7:69). Camels were much in use among other nations in the East. The queen of Sheba came with a
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).