Charles Ellicott Commentary Leviticus 11:4

"Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that part the hoof: the camel, because he cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you." — Leviticus 11:4 (ASV)

Nevertheless these shall ye not eat. —As there are some quadrupeds which comply with only one of the two above-named conditions— i.e., which ruminate but do not have their hooves perfectly parted in two, or, vice versa, are cloven-hoofed and not ruminant—it is declared here that such animals must not be eaten.

As the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not ... — Better, though he cheweth the cud, yet he divideth not, as the same phrase is properly rendered in the Authorized Version in Leviticus 11:7. The first animal cited to illustrate this fact is the indispensable camel, or “the ship of the desert,” as it is aptly called. Though cloven-footed above, the toes of the camel are united below in a large elastic pad on which the camel treads, and which is like the sole of a shoe. Hence it does not come within the category of those animals which are thoroughly cloven-hoofed. The Egyptians, the Zebii, and the Hindus, too, did not eat camel’s flesh, because they supposed it to be heating, and to produce cruelty and revenge; while the Persians, the ancient Arabians, and the Moslems feasted upon its milk and flesh.