References (50)
And Rachel said, "I have wrestled (struggled, 'twisted myself'; wrestled) with my sister for God's battles, and I have [truly] gained the upper hand (overcome)." So she named him Naphtali [meaning: "my struggle"; or possibly "cunning struggle"].
Rachel's [two] sons by her maid Bilhah:
Dan. and Naphtali.
The sons of Naphtali:
Jachzeel, Goni, Jezer, and Shillem.
Naphtali [meaning "wrestler"] is a hind that has been set free,
he gives good words (speaks blessings, encouragement, and comfort).
[This is a prophecy that the disciples will preach the gospel, the good words, the good news. Almost all of Jesus' disciples come from the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali, because these two tribes mingled in the area around the Sea of Galilee, which was originally assigned to Naphtali and was the area where Jesus called most of his disciples. Nazareth is located in the area of Zebulun and Capernaum in the area of Naphtali.]
Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.
From Naphtali: Ahira, son of Enan.
The sons of Naphtali, their generations, according to their families, according to the houses of their fathers, by the number of names, every male separately, every male from 20 years old and upward, all who were sent forth to war,
this was the number of them of the tribe of Naphtali, they were 53,400.
And [last in the last group] the tribe of Naphtali.
The leader of the sons of Naphtali is Ahira, son of Enan,
On the 12th day, Achira, son of Ejnan, leader of the sons of Naphtali, offered his sacrifice.
And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali was Achira, son of Enan.
From the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi, son of Vaphsi.
The sons of Naphtali according to their families:
Of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites,
of Goni, the family of the Gonites,
These are the families of Naphtali according to their families, those who were counted among them: 45,400.
[First count: 53,400, a decrease of 8,000.]
And from the tribe of Naphtali, a leader,
Pedahel, son of Amihod."
And these [six tribes] shall stand on Mount Ebal [present-day Imad-el-Deen, to the north] for the curse:
Reuben (Hebr. Reoven) [the eldest; Leah's firstborn];
Gad and Asher [whose mother was Zilpah – Leah's maidservant] and
Zebulun (Hebr. Zevolun);
Dan. and Naphtali [whose mother was Bilhah – Rachel's maidservant].
And to Naphtali he said, "Naphtali, showered with grace (conditional grace, favor, pleasure) and full of the blessings of the Lord (Yahweh), take (occupy) the sea and the south."
[This is a strange prophecy, as Naphtali receives his inheritance west and north of the Sea of Galilee, neither by the sea nor in the south of the country. The word translated as south here can also mean south wind. Then it also means to sweep around the whole earth in the same way that the wind can blow long distances. Considering that almost all of Jesus' disciples came from the area of Naphtali, this prophecy can be seen as a prediction of the spread of the gospel throughout the world.]
and all of Naphtali [Galilee in the north]
and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh [in the central northern part]
and all the land of Judah as far as the sea in the west [southern central part to the Mediterranean Sea]
And the sixth lot fell to Naphtali, to the tribe of the sons of Naphtali according to their families.
This is the inheritance of the sons of Naphtali according to their families, the cities with their villages.
So they set apart [three cities west of the Jordan River:]
Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and
Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and
Kiriath-Arba, which is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah.
And the sons of Gershon by their families were allotted from the tribe of Issachar, and from the tribe of Asher, and from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, 13 cities.
And from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with the open land around it, the city of refuge for a manslayer, and Chamot-Dor with the open land around it, and Kartan with the open land around it—3 cities.
Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beit-Shemesh and the inhabitants of Beit-Anat, but lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. However, the inhabitants of Beit-Shemesh and Beit-Anat became forced laborers (taxpayers).
And she sent for and summoned Barak, the son of Avinoam from Kedesh-Naftali, and said to him [this is the first of three speeches to Barak given by Deborah]: "Has not the Lord, the God of Israel (Yahweh Elohim), commanded and said, 'Go and go out against Mount Tabor and take with you 10,000 men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun? [There is a Kedesh northwest of Hazor and north of Lake Hula (). However, the most likely location here is Kirbet-Kedesh on the western side of the Sea of Galilee, just south of present-day Tiberias.]
And Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and they went up 10,000 men on foot, and Deborah went up with him.
Zebulun is a people who risk their lives even unto death,
and Naphtali on the high heights of the field.
And he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also gathered after him, and he sent messengers to Asher and to Zebulun and to Naphtali, and they came up and met him.
And the men of Israel gathered from Naphtali and from Asher and from Manasseh and pursued the Midianites.
Achimat – in Naphtali, he took Solomon's daughter Basmat as his wife;
He was the son of a widow from the tribe of
Naphtali, and his father was a man from
Tyre, a coppersmith
(literally, "one who plows/engraves in bronze"). And he
[Hiram] was full of wisdom and knowledge and skill to do all kinds of work in bronze. And he came to King Solomon and did all his work.
And Ben-Hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel and struck Ijon and Dan and Abel-Beth-Maacah and all Kinnereth [Galilee] with all the land of Naphtali.
In the days of Pekah, king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, came and took Ijon, Abel-Beth-Maacha, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and he carried them away captive to Assyria.
Dan, Joseph, and Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
The descendants of Gershom received thirteen towns from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh in Bashan, by lot, family by family.
and from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with pasture lands, Hammon with pasture lands, and Kirjatajim with pasture lands.
The sons of Naphtali were Jahaziel, Guni, Isa, and Shallum, the sons of Bilhah.
from Naphtali, 1,000 officers and with them 37,000 armed with shields and spears,
Those who lived nearest to them, as far as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali, also brought them food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen: flour, fig cakes, raisin cakes, wine, oil, cattle, and sheep. There was joy in Israel.
for Zebulun, Jishmaiah, son of Obadiah,
for Naphtali, Jerimoth, son of Asriel,
Ben-Hadad listened to King Asa and sent his commanders against the cities of Israel and captured Ijon, Dan, and Abel-Majim, as well as all the storehouses in the cities of Naphtali.
He searched the houses throughout the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali.
God (Elohim) has commanded your strength [that you should be strong – Israel],
be strong, O God (Elohim).
You who acted (worked) for us
For there shall be no more night-black darkness [in the land] where there is now distress (compulsion, restriction) [no gloomy melancholy shall rest upon her]. In the past (in the first age), he let the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali be despised (cursed; without blessing), but afterward [later in the days to come], he will honor (give weight to) the area around the road by the [Galilee] Sea, the land on the other side of the Jordan, the Galilee of the Gentiles.
[These two Israeli areas in the north were conquered by Assyria ten years before Isaiah wrote this, see . It was in this area around Capernaum that Jesus ministered and fulfilled this prophecy. See ; .]
Next to Asher's territory, Naphtali shall have a portion from the east side to the west.
Next to Naphtali's territory, Manasseh shall have a portion from the east side to the west.
The west side shall measure 4,500 [cubits; 2.3 km] and have three gates: the first is the gate of Gad, the second the gate of Asher, and the third the gate of Naphtali.
[You] the land of Zebulun and
Naphtali [corresponding to upper and lower Galilee],
the sea road
[the trade route Via Maris],
the land beyond
[west of] the Jordan,
the Galilee of the Gentiles:
from the tribe of Asher 12,000 [],
from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000 [],
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000 [one son of Joseph, see ; ],
