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NAPHTALI

(Heb. naptālî)

The sixth son of Jacob, the second born by Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaiden. His birth narrative is recorded in Gen. 30:1-8. Jacob’s first four sons were born to him by Leah, and the barren Rachel was jealous. Rachel offered her servant Bilhah to Jacob as a wife; any children conceived would be “born upon Rachel’s knees,” an idiom for legal adoption. The name Naphtali in Hebrew means “my wrestling,” a wordplay on Rachel’s statement “with mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister” (Gen. 30:8). The birth mother’s status seems to contribute no inequalities within the tribal system. While some tribes of full descent (Simeon, Reuben) early lost significance, some “concubine” tribes such as Naphtali contributed leaders to Israel. When Jacob escaped famine in Egypt, Naphtali and his four sons accompanied him (Gen. 46:24-26; Exod. 1:4).

In the census taken in the second year after leaving Egypt, Naphtali’s descendants totaled 53,400 men 20 years and older, able-bodied for war (Num. 1:42-43; 2:29-30). According to a second census for the apportionment of the land among the tribes, Naphtali totaled 45,400 (Num. 26:50).

The book of Judges records several narratives emphasizing military and leadership capabilities of Naphtali’s tribe. During the settlement process, Naphtali did not drive out all Canaanite inhabitants, but pressed some into forced labor (Judg. 1:33). When Deborah led the Israelites against King Jabin of Canaan, the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun were summoned for military duty with Barak, a Naphtalite from Kedesh, as military commander (Judg. 4:6-10). Gideon called Naphtali’s forces against the Midianites and Amalekites (Judg. 6:35; 7:23).

The territory of Naphtali lay along the western shore of the Sea of Galilee and extended north; it touched the territory of Zebulun in the south, Asher on the west, with the Jordan River as its eastern boundary. No northern border is given (Josh. 19:34). Naphtali’s region was mountainous and heavily forested; thus it was both aesthetically and politically attractive. Major trade routes connecting the port of Acco and the coastal plains with points north passed through this area, and it included many fortified towns (Josh. 19:35-38).

Naphtali was conquered by Ben-hadad of Syria ca. 900 b.c.e. (1 Kgs. 15:20 = 2 Chr. 16:4) and later annexed by Assyria (2 Kgs. 15:29).

Bibliography. Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia, 1979); R. G. Boling, Joshua. AB 6 (Garden City, 1982); N. K. Gottwald, The Tribes of Yahweh (Maryknoll, 1979).

Patricia A. MacNicoll

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

NAPHTALI

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)