Hebrew word · H736

אֹרְחָה

'orechat

caravan

A travelling company, a caravan. It comes from ʾāraḥ, 'to travel', and is related to ʾōraḥ, 'road, path'. It appears in only three places: Gen 37:25 (a caravan of Ishmaelites carrying gum, balm and myrrh), Job 6:19 ('the caravans of Tema… the travellers of Sheba') and here.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

caravan, travelling company

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Isaiah 21:13

Range of meaning

A travelling company, a caravan. It comes from ʾāraḥ, 'to travel', and is related to ʾōraḥ, 'road, path'. It appears in only three places: Gen 37:25 (a caravan of Ishmaelites carrying gum, balm and myrrh), Job 6:19 ('the caravans of Tema… the travellers of Sheba') and here.

Against the English

KJV 'travelling companies', YLT 'travellers', modern versions 'caravans'. The Septuagint and Vulgate read the same consonants as 'roads/paths'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 37:25 shows the classic picture: camel caravans carrying aromatics from Gilead and Arabia to Egypt. Job 6:19 links caravans specifically with Tema, the oasis named in the next verse here.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 37:25 אֹרְחַ֣ת a caravan of

    And as they sat down to eat a meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh on their way down to Egypt.

    Here: 'A caravan of.' It comes from the word for 'road, way' and means a group travelling together along a trade route. It is a merchant train, not a crowd.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 21:13 אֹֽרְח֖וֹת O caravans of

    This is the burden against Arabia: In the thickets of Arabia you must lodge, O caravans of Dedanites.

    Here: The prophet is calling out to them directly: 'O caravans of…'. These are long-distance trading convoys, the camel trains that carried incense and goods along the desert roads.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.