בראשית, פרק ל״ב, פסוק ט״ז

To prepare for the fateful reunion with his brother Esau, Jacob orchestrates a massive, carefully calculated tribute of livestock designed to impress his brother, satisfy his eye, and appease his lingering anger. The animals are divided into distinct, separate herds to amplify the visual impact of the gift. By deliberately including both males and females of every species, Jacob provides a fertile, self-sustaining breeding herd, which subtly showcases the immense scale of his wealth [רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

While the tribute explicitly details the numbers of male and female donkeys, the inclusion of the camels presents an intriguing puzzle. Unlike the other animals, where the exact numbers of adult males and females are clearly defined, the camels are simply described as thirty nursing females and their young. A straightforward reading suggests that Jacob sent thirty female camels along with their nursing infants, and the young males were simply counted among those babies [רשב״ם, ביאור יש״ר, שד״ל].

However, the primary approach among commentators is that the mention of the young actually refers to adult male camels. This is based on the logic that a dignified royal tribute would not count dependent infants alongside their mothers; therefore, the number thirty must encompass the adult males and females together [גור אריה, שפתי חכמים, משכיל לדוד]. Furthermore, since camels are non-kosher animals and their milk cannot be consumed, the only practical purpose of a nursing camel is to feed its baby. Describing them as nursing already guarantees the presence of the infants, making any additional mention of the babies completely redundant. Instead, the term used for the young is understood to mean "their builders"—the adult males responsible for mating and building the next generation [העמק דבר, תורה תמימה, פרדס יוסף, חנוכת התורה, אם למקרא, דברי דוד].

The decision to obscure the male camels behind this unique phrasing is explained in two distinct ways. Some point to a linguistic limitation, noting that the Hebrew language lacks a distinct noun for a female camel, unlike the specific terms that exist for cows or female donkeys. Consequently, an indirect description was necessary to differentiate the sexes [הטור הארוך, הדר זקנים, בכור שור, פענח רזא]. Others attribute this phrasing to modesty. Camels are known for being exceptionally private in their mating habits. To honor this natural modesty, explicit mention of the males was avoided in favor of a more delicate and refined expression [רש״י, תורה תמימה, צאינה וראינה].

This leaves a final question regarding how the thirty camels were divided between the sexes. One perspective maintains that the number thirty refers only to the females, meaning there were thirty females and thirty males. This equal ratio is necessary because camels travel exhausting, long distances and require a higher proportion of males compared to other livestock [מזרחי, גור אריה, חזקוני]. Another viewpoint suggests an even split within the thirty, meaning fifteen males and fifteen females [לבוש האורה, שפתי חכמים]. A third approach looks to the donkeys in the tribute for a parallel: just as there were twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys, there were twenty female camels and ten male camels, completing the total of thirty [הטור הארוך, פענח רזא, בכור שור].