Loving, Passionate, Sexy Camels and other Beautiful Biblical Beasts in Isaiah and Jeremiah
“A multitude of camels shall cover you. . . All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you.” (Isaiah 6:6-7) I can’t stop thinking about Isaiah 60:6-7. I know it’s supposed to symbolize the nations paying tribute to Israel, metonymically and actually through animal offerings. But I’m enjoying imagining it detached from its cultural context. Are you ever caught with your bank account at its limit–an important bill just out of your financial reach? Maybe you’re stranded on the side of the road with a broke-down engine. Maybe your card was just declined with a week’s worth of groceries on the cashier’s belt. Here come the camels. They’ll cover you. You hear one braying from just out of sight. Then another comes around the corner. They and a third camel mosey purposefully to the checkout counter where you stand, declined card in hand, full of embarrassment. One of the camels spits on the grocer’s scale. You can smell him. His hot, heavy b