NAPHTALI (naph'ta-li), .7%-711?;, naf-taw lee', my wrestling).
1. The sixth son of Jacob, and his second by Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid, born B. C. 1747, in Padan-Aram ; also the tribe of Israel descended from him. Nothing of his personal history is recorded. In the testamentary blessing of Jacob Naphtali is described (Gen. xlix :21), as translated in the Auth. Vers., 'a hind let loose, lie giveth goodly words.' The Sept. translators, however, must have found the words rendered 'hind' and 'words' different, for they render the verse, 'Naphtali is a goodly tree (terebinth or oak) that puts forth lovely branches.' We certainly incline to this view of the text ; the metaphor which it involve§ being well adapted to the residence of the tribe of Naphtali, which was a beautiful woodland country, extending to Mount Lebanon, and pro ducing fruits of every sort. With this interpre tation, better than with the other, agrees the bless ing of Moses upon the same tribe: '0 Naphtali, satisfied with favor, and full with the blessing of the Lord, possess thou the west and the south' (Deut. xxxiii :23). When the Israelites quitted Egypt, the tribe of Naphtali numbered 53.400 adult males (Num. i :43), ranking sixth in popu lation among the tribes; but at the census taken in the plains of Moab it counted only 45,400 (Num. xxvi :5o), being a decrease of 8,000 in one generation, whereby it became the seventh in point of numbers. The Ihnits of the territory as
signed to this tribe are stated in Josh. xix :32-39, which show that it possessed one of the finest and most fertile districts of Lpper Galilee, extending from the Lake Gennesareth and the border of Zebulun, on the south, to the sources of the Jor dan and the spurs of Lebanon on the north, and from the Jordan, on the east. to the borders of Asher on the west. But it was somewhat slow in acquiring possession of the assigned territory (Judg. i:33). The chief towns of the tribe were Kedesh, Hazor, Harosheth, and Chinnereth. which last was also the name of the great lake after wards called Gennesareth. In the Hebrew history Naphtali is distinguished for the alacrityl with which it obeyed the call to arms against the op pressors of Israel when many other tribes held back (Judg. iv:to; v:18; vi:35; vii:23). In the time of David the tribe had on its rolls 37,000 men fit for military service, armed with shields and spears, under a thousand officers ( Chron. xii :34).
2. The mountainous district which formed the main part of the territory of Naphtali (Josh. xx; 7): answering to "Mount Ephraim" and "Mount Judah."