NAPHTALI, Tribe of. The blessing pronounced by Jacob upon Naphtali was ver\' short; but the lan- guage is obscure, and its interpretation has occasioned considerable controvers)-. In the English version it reads thus, "Naphtali is a hind let loose; he giveth goodly words" (Gen. xlix, 21). The Septuagint trans- lates the first clause, fis(p^a\H ariXfxot; dviij-ikvov, "Naphtali is a wide -spread tree." The translators must either have had before them or they must have invented a different pointing of the Hebrew text (nb'^X instead of •n?''i<:. The former, equivalent to i"'X or "pSX, signifies "a strong tree," o?-6or rohista; but es- pecially an "oak" or "terebinth." Gesenius, Thesau- rus, p. 47). The second clause is made to correspond, i-n-iOLSovi; tv t<^ yivvr\naTi KaXXoc, "putting forth in its fruit beauty," or "giving forth goodly boughs." Here the pointing must have been different from the Masoretic. Instead of '^'^I'SX, "words," they read *i'n'2X. " shoots" or "leaves." This view has been sub- stantially adopted by Bochart and many modern com- mentators. Bochart examines the text minutely, and translates, " Nephthali est ut arbor surculosa, edens ramos pulchritudinis," id est, " egregios et speciosos" {Opera, ii, 895 sq. ; comp. Stanley, *S. and P. p. 355). The translation of this difficult passage given bv Ewald {Geschichte,u, 380),
" Naphtali is a towering Terebinth ; He hath a goodly crest,"
gives it an allusion at once to the situation of the tribe at the very apex of the country, to the heroes who towered at the head of the tribe, and to the lofty moun- tains on whose summits their castles, then as now, were perched. The onlj' reasons for the change are that it gives a better sense, and it seems to accord more with Moses's blessing in Deut. xxxiii, 23. The great fruit- fulness of the tribe would thus be indicated, and the nature of the country they were to occupy. This translation, however, is opposed to the Masoretic text, and to the interpretations of the best Jewish writers (Bochart, I.e.). The present reading, too, when thought- fully considered, is as appropriate as the other. This, like the other blessings of the patriarch, was intended to shadow forth under poetic imager}' the future char- acter and history of the tribe. " Naphtali is a hind let loose," or " a graceful hind" — timid and distrustful of its own powers, swift of foot to elude its enemies; but when brought to bay fierce and strong to defend its life. These were the qualities shown by Naphtali. They left several of their cities in the hands of the Canaanites (Judg. i, 33) ; they had not confidence to fight alone, but when assailed they made a noble de- fence (Judg. V, 18), and united with others in pursuit of a fijang foe (vi, 35). Their want of self-confidence was chiefiy shown m the case of Barak ; and then, too, they displayed in the end heroic devotion and un- wearied alacrity. " He (that is, Naphtali ; the masc. 'jklSn proves this) giveth goodly words." The tribe was to be famous for the beauty of its language. It probably possessed poets and writers whose names have not come down to us. We have one noble ode ascribed in part at least to a Naphtalite (Judg. v, 1. See Kalisch, On Gen. xlix, 21).
During the sojourn in Egypt Naphtali increased with wonderful rapidity. Four sons went down with their father and Jacob ; and at the exodus the adult males numbered 53,400 (Numb, i, 43). It thus held exactly the middle position in the nation, having five above it in numbers, and six below. But when the borders of the Promised Land were reached its numbers were reduced to 45,400, with four only below it in the scale, one of the four being Ephraim (Numb, xxvi, 48-50 ; comp. 37). The leader of the tribe at Sinai was Ahira ben-Enan (Numb, ii, 29) ; and at Shiloh, Pedahel ben- Ammihud (xxxiv, 28). Among the spies its represen- tative was Nahbi ben-Vophsi (xiii, 14).
During the march through the wilderness Naphtali occupied a position on the north of the sacred tent with Dan, and also with another tribe, which, though not originally so intimately connected, became after- wards his immediate neighbor — Asher (Numb, ii, 25- 31). The three formed the "camp of Dan," and their common standard, according to the Jewish traditions, was a serpent or basilisk, with the motto, " Return, O Jehovah, unto the many thousands of Israel" {Targ, Pseudojon. on Numb, ii, 25).
Jacob's blessing had special reference to the char- acter and achievements of the tribe; that of Moses to the nature of their territory — " 0 Naphtali, satisfied with favor, and full with the blessing of the Loi-d: pos- sess thou the icest ami the south" (Deut. xxx, 23). A more literal and more accurate rendering of the Hebrew would be, "Naphtali, replete with favors, and full of the blessings of Jehovah ; possess thou the sea and Darom." The word C, Yam, which in the A. Y. is translated " west," evidently means " the sea ;" that is, the Sea of Galilee, which lay in part within tlie terri- tory of Naphtali. The Hebrew term DII'J, Darom, ("a circuit," from the root 11"! = Arab, ddr, "to go round ;" see Gesenius, Thesaurus, s. v.), is most proba- bly a proper name equivalent to Galil ("a circuit"), or Galilee, the name given in Josh, xx, 7, xxi, 32, and else- where, to a district amid the mountains of Naphtali [see Galilee], of which Darom may have been the older appellation. " The sea and Darom" would thus