Horse:
always referred to in the Bible in connection with warlike operations, except Isa 28:28. The war-horse is described Job 39:19-25. For a long period after their settlement in Canaan the Israelites made no use of horses, according to the prohibition, Deu 17:16. David was the first to form a force of cavalry (2Sa 8:4). But Solomon, from his connection with Egypt, greatly multiplied their number (1Ki 4:26; 10:26,29). After this, horses were freely used in Israel (1Ki 22:4; 2Ki 3:7; 9:21,33; 11:16). The furniture of the horse consisted simply of a bridle (Isa 30:28) and a curb (Psa 32:9).
Horse:
hors:
1. Names:
The common names are (1) cuc, and(2) hippos. (3) The word parash, "horseman," occurs often, and in several cases is translated "horse" or "warhorse" (Isa 28:28; Eze 27:14; Joe 2:4 the Revised Version, margin); also in 2Sa 16, where the "horsemen" of English Versions of the Bible is ba‘ale ha-parashim, "owners of horses"; compare Arabic faris, "horseman," and faras, "horse". (4) The feminine form cucah, occurs in So 1:9, and is rendered as follows: Septuagint he hippos; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) equitatum; the King James Version "company of horses," the Revised Version (British and American) "steed." It is not clear why English Versions of the Bible does not have "mare." (5) The word ‘abbirim, "strong ones," is used for horses in Jud 5:22; Jer 8:16; 47:3; 50:11 (the King James Version "bulls"). In Ps 22:12 the same word is translated "strong bulls" (of Bashan). (6) For [~rekhesh (compare Arabic rakad, "to run"), in 1Ki 4:28; Es 8:10,14; Mic 1:13, the Revised Version (British and American) has "swift steeds," while the King James Version gives "dromedaries" in 1Ki and "mules" in Est.(7) For kirkaroth (Isa 66:20), the King James Version and the English Revised Version have "swift beasts"; the English Revised Version margin and the American Standard Revised Version "dromedaries"; Septuagint skiddia, perhaps "covered carriages." In Es 8:10,14 we find the doubtful words(8) ‘achashteranim, and(9) bene ha-rammakim, which have been variously translated. the King James Version has respectively "camels" and "young dromedaries," the Revised Version (British and American) "used in the king's service" and "bred of the stud," the Revised Version margin "mules" and "young dromedaries."
See CAMEL.
2. Origin:
The Hebrew and Egyptian names for the horse are alike akin to the Assyrian. The Jews may have obtained horses from Egypt (De 17:16), but the Canaanites before them had horses (Jos 17:16), and in looking toward the Northeast for the origin of the horse, philologists are in agreement with zoologists who consider that the plains of Central Asia, and also of Europe, were the original home of the horse. At least one species of wild horse is still found in Central Asia.
3. Uses:
The horses of the Bible are almost exclusively war-horses, or at least the property of kings and not of the common people. A doubtful reference to the use of horses in threshing grain is found in Isa 28:28. Horses are among the property which the Egyptians gave to Joseph in exchange for grain (Ge 47:17). In De 17:16 it is enjoined that the king "shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses." This and other injunctions failed to prevent the Jews from borrowing from the neighboring civilizations their customs, idolatries, and vices. Solomon's horses are enumerated in 1Ki 4, and the se‘irim and tebhen of 1Ki 4:28 (5:8) are identical with the sha‘ir ("barley") and tibn ("straw") with which the arab feeds his horse today. In war, horses were ridden and were driven in chariots (Ex 14:9; Jos 11:4; 2Sa 15:1, etc.).
4. Figurative and Descriptive:
The horse is referred to figuratively chiefly in Zechariah and Revelation. A chariot and horses of fire take Elijah up to heaven (2Ki 2:11 f). In Ps 20:7; 33:17; and 76:6, the great strength of the horse is recalled as a reminder of the greater strength of God. In Jas 3:3, the small bridle by which the horse can be managed is compared to the tongue (compare Ps 32:9). In Job 39:19-25 we have a magnificent description of a spirited war-horse.
Written by Alfred Ely Day
Horse: Description Of:
Great strength,
Job 39:19-25;
swifter than eagles,
Jer 4:13;
snorting and neighing of,
Isa 5:28; Jer 8:16;
a vain thing for safety,
Psa 33:17; Pro 21:31.
Horse: Used By
The Egyptians in war,
Exd 14:9; 15:19;
the Israelites,
1Ki 22:4.
Horse: Used for Cavalry
2Ki 18:23; Jer 47:3; 51:21
Horse: Egypt Famous For
Isa 31:1
Horse: Forbidden to the Kings of Israel
Deu 17:16
Horse: Hamstrung By
Joshua,
Jos 11:6, 9;
David,
2Sa 8:4.
Horse: Israel Reproved for Keeping
Isa 2:7; 31:1; Eze 17:15; Hsa 14:3
Horse: Exported
From Egypt,
1Ki 10:28, 29; 2Ch 9:25, 28;
from Babylon,
Ezr 2:66; Neh 7:68.
Horse: Items For
Bits for,
Jam 3:3;
bells for,
Zec 14:20;
harness for,
Jer 46:4.
Horse: Color Of
Zec 1:8
Horse: Commerce In
Rev 18:13;
See EXPORTED, above
Horse: Dedicated to Religious Uses
2Ki 23:11
Horse: Symbolical:
Zec 1:8; Rev 6:2-8; 9:17; 19:11-21
Horse:
apart from the fifteen occurrences in the Apocalypse, occurs only in Jam 3:3; in the Apocalypse "horses" are seen in visions in Rev 6:2, 4, 5, 8; 9:7, 9, 17 (twice); 14:20; 19:11, 14, 19, 21; otherwise in Rev 18:13; 19:18.
Horse:
The most striking feature in the biblical notices of the horse is the exclusive application of it to warlike operations; in no instance is that useful animal employed for the purposes of ordinary locomotion or agriculture, if we except (Isaiah 28:28). The animated description of the horse in Job 39:19-25 applies solely to the war‐horse. The Hebrews in the patriarchal age, as a pastoral race, did not stand in need of the services of the horse, and for a long period after their settlement in Canaan they dispensed with it, partly in consequence of the hilly nature of the country, which only admitted of the use of chariots in certain localities (Judges 1:19) and partly in consequence to the prohibition in Deuteronomy 17:16 which would be held to apply at all periods. David first established a force of cavalry and chariots (2 Samuel 8:4) but the great supply of horses was subsequently effected by Solomon through his connection with Egypt (1 Kings 4:26). Solomon also established a very active trade in horses, which were brought by dealers out of Egypt and resold, at a profit, to the Hittites. With regard to the trappings and management of the horse we have little information. The bridle was placed over the horse's nose (Isaiah 30:28) and a bit or curb is also mentioned (2 Kings 19:28; Psalm 32:9; Proverbs 26:3; Isaiah 37:29). In the Authorized Version it is incorrectly given "bridle," with the exception of Psalm 32:1. … Saddles were not used until a late period. The horses were not shod, and therefore hoofs are hard "as flint," (Isaiah 5:28) were regarded as a great merit. The chariot‐horses were covered with embroidered trappings (Ezekiel 27:20). Horses and chariots were used also in idolatrous processions, as noticed in regard to the sun (2 Kings 23:11).
Camel:
kam'-el (gamal; kamelos; bekher, and bikhrah (Isa 60:6; Jer 2:23 "dromedary," the American Revised Version, margin "young camel"), rekhesh (1Ki 4:28; see HORSE), kirkaroth (Isa 66:20, "swift beasts," the American Standard Revised ersion. "dromedaries"); bene ha-rammakhim (Es 8:10, "young dromedaries," the American Standard Revised Version "bred of the stud"); achashteranim (Es 8:10,14, the King James Version "camels," the American Standard Revised Version "that were used in the king's service")): There are two species of camel, the Arabian or one-humped camel or dromedary, Camelus dromedarius, and the Bactrian or two-humped camel, Camelus bactrianus. The latter inhabits the temperate and cold parts of central Asia and is not likely to have been known to Biblical writers. The Arabian camel inhabits southwestern Asia and northern Africa and has recently been introduced into parts of America and Australia. Its hoofs are not typical of ungulates but are rather like great claws. The toes are not completely separated and the main part of the foot which is applied to the ground is a large pad which underlies the proximal joints of the digits. It may be that this incomplete separation of the two toes is a sufficient explanation of the words "parteth not the hoof," in Le 11:4 and De 14:7. Otherwise these words present a difficulty, because the hoofs are completely separated though the toes are not. The camel is a ruminant and chews the cud like a sheep or ox, but the stomach possesses only three compartments instead of four, as in other ruminants. The first two compartments contain in their walls small pouches, each of which can be closed by a sphincter muscle. The fluid retained in these pouches may account in part for the power of the camel to go for a relatively long time without drinking.
The Arabian camel is often compared with justice to the reindeer of the Esquimaux. It furnishes hair for spinning and weaving, milk, flesh and leather, as well as being an of invaluable means of transportation in the arid desert. There are many Arabic names for the camel, the commonest of which is jamal (in Egypt gamal), the root being common to Arabic, Hebrew and other Semitic languages. From it the names in Latin, Greek, English and various European languages are derived. There are various breeds camels, as there are of horses. The riding camels or dromedaries, commonly called hajin, can go, even at a walk, much faster than the pack camels. The males are mostly used for carrying burdens, the females being kept with the herds. Camels are used to a surprising extent on the rough roads of the mountains, and one finds in the possession of fellachin in the mountains and on the littoral plain larger and stronger pack camels than are often found among the Bedouin. Camels were apparently not much used by the Israelites after the time of the patriarchs. They were taken as spoil of war from the Amalekites and other tribes, but nearly the only reference to their use by the later Israelites was when David was made king over all Israel at Hebron, when camels are mentioned among the animals used for bringing food for the celebration (1Ch 12:40). David had a herd of camels, but the herdsman was Obil, an Ishmaelite (1Ch 27:30). Nearly all the other Biblical references to camels are to those possessed by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Ishmaelites, Amalekites, Midianites, Hagrites and the "children of the East" (see EAST). Two references to camels (Ge 12:16; Ex 9:3) are regarded as puzzling because the testimony of the Egyptian monuments is said to be against the presence of camels in ancient Egypt. For this reason, Ge 12-16, in connection with Abram's visit to Egypt, is turned to account by Canon Cheyne to substantiate his theory that the Israelites were not in Egypt but in a north Arabian land of Mucri (Encyclopaedia Biblica under the word "Camel," 4). While the flesh of the camel was forbidden to the Israelites, it is freely eaten by the Arabs. There are three references to the camel in New Testament:
(1) to John's raiment of camel's hair (Mt 3:4; Mr 1:6);
(2) the words of Jesus that "it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God" (Mt 19:24; Mr 10:25; Lu 18:25);
(3) the proverb applied to the Pharisees as blind guides, "that strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel" (Mt 23:24). Some manuscripts read ho kamilos, "a cable," in Mt 19:24 and Lu 18:25.
There are a few unusual words which have been translated "camel" in text or margin of one or the other version. (See list of words at beginning of the article) Bekher and bikhrah clearly mean a young animal, and the Arabic root word and derivatives are used similarly to the Hebrew. Rakhash, the root of rekhesh, is compared with the Arabic rakad, "to run," and, in the Revised Version (British and American), rekhesh is translated "swift steeds." Kirkaroth, rammakhim and achashteranim must be admitted to be of doubtful etymology and uncertain meaning.
Written by Alfred Ely Day
Camel's Hair →
He is a cross pendant.
He is engraved with a unique Number.
He will mail it out from Jerusalem.
He will be sent to your Side.
Emmanuel
Bible Verses About Welcoming ImmigrantsEmbracing the StrangerAs we journey through life, we often encounter individuals who are not of our nationality......
Who We AreWhat We EelieveWhat We Do
2025 by lntellectual Reserve,Inc All rights reserved.
