Naphtali

נפתלי


Genesis 30:8 names him as a son of Ya'akov (Jacob) by Bilhah; his natural brother was Dan.

Genesis 46:24: his sons were Yachtse-El (יחצאל), Guni (גוני) Yetser (יצר) and Shilem (שלם).

Joshua 19:32 ff defines his tribal territory.

The meaning of Yachtse-El is unclear, though Gesenius, without explaining why, suggests "whom God allots", by which he of course really means "whom El allots". 1 Chronicles 7:13 spells him Yachatsi-El (יחציאל) and Numbers 26:48 Yachtse-Eli (יחצאלי). The root is probably NACHATS (נחץ), which means "to press" or "to urge", whence LACHATS (לחץ), the modern Ivrit word for "stress"; it appears in 1 Samuel 21:9 (1 Samuel 21:8 in some translations) as NACHUTS (נָחוּץ) = "urgent".

Guni probably means "painted with colours"; Gaven (גבן) means "to colour" or "dye". Given the meanings of both Phoenicia and Hurria, could this be another name for that same people, or at least another allusion to that core industry of dyeing? Or is it (which could actually be the same thing, one stage removed) a hint of the coat of many colours which was the status-symbol of the Hyksos?

Shilem: another in the series of Salm names linked to the sun-cult of Yeru-Shala'im. 1 Chronicles 7:13 calls him Shalum (שלום), and Numbers 26:49 names the clan or tribe of the Beney Shilem as the Shilemi (שלמי).

Drummond, in "The Oedipus Judaicus", attempting to determine which tribes are which constellations, concludes that Naphtali is Sagittarius the Archer. However, "archers" are given in Genesis 49:23 as Ba'aley chitsim (בעלי-חצים), and Habbakuk 3:11 uses "arrows of YHVH" metaphorically for the lightning; as lightning flashes of human calamity they are also used poetically in Deuteronomy 32:42, Job 6:4, Psalms 38:3 and 91:5, in Ezekiel 5:16 and in Numbers 24:8.

Genesis 49:21 gives Ya'akov's (Jacob's) blessing: "Naphtali ayalah shelucha ha noten imrey shapher - נפתלי אילה שלחה הנתן אמרי-שפר - Naphtali is a hind let loose, he gives goodly words". As ever there is an apparent meaning and an alternative one that can be summised by a different reading of the etymology. Thus:-

Ayalah does indeed mean "a stag" or "hind" or "hart", though specifically it is the she-goat, as Ayl is the "great ram" or "gazelle" which in Latin is called capreae, whence the zodiacal sign Capricorn. It should also be observed that Ayl (איל) is used to mean "strong" or "robust" and stands for trees of such type, especially the terebinth oak and occasionally the palm. Thus El Paran (איל פרן) in Genesis 14:6, which may in fact be Eyl Paran, an etymological variation upon El (אל), the Kena'ani (Canaanite) bull-god from whose name comes Elon (אלון), the more normal name for an oak tree. 

Ayalon (אילון) is mentioned as being a Levitical town in the tribe of Dan (Joshua 10:12, 19:42, 21:24; Judges 1:35), and as a town in Zevulun (Zebulon) in Judges 12:12. It was in the valley of Ayalon that Yehoshu'a (Joshua) made the sun stand still, an incident which Drummond has explained in terms of the calendrical reform. There is also an Eylon (אילון) in Dan according to Joshua 19:43 and an Elon Beit Chanan (אֵיל֖וֹן בֵּ֥ית חָנָֽן) in 1 Kings 4:9. Elon appears as a man's name in Genesis 26:34, 36:2 and 46:14, as well as in Judges 12:11.

SHELUCHAH: from the root Shalach (שלח) = "sent". The translation "let loose" is perfectly acceptable, but so could any one of several alternatives, including "sent as a messenger", "expelled", "cast down", "stretched out" and a good few more. The root is simply too ambivalent and multi-used for us to be able to speculate.

HA NOTEN IMREY SHAPHER: "he gives goodly words". Not so much "goodly" as "beautiful" or "elegant". Shelu'ach comes from the root Shalach, used here in the Pu'al form, meaning "to be sent", which would render the text here as "a messenger"; it is the job of a messenger to speak any kind of words, and of messengers of gods especially to speak beautiful or goodly or elegant words. A preferred rendering of the first part of the blessing then is "Naphtali is a messenger of Capricorn, the goat-god", or even, still more simply, "Naphtali is Capricorn, the goat-god."

IMREY causes more of a problem. It does indeed mean "words", from Amar (אמר) = "to say". But in Chaldean and Aramaic (cf Ezra 6:9, 7:17) Imar (אמר), or here IMRIN (אִמְּרִ֣ין), means a baby-goat or baby-sheep, which is too much of a coincidence to ignore, especially as the verb Natan (נתן) = "to give" is actually slightly anachronistic in the context of speaking words. If "kid" or "lamb" is the correct meaning, then the blessing makes sense, for it becomes a blessing of the progeny of the goat-god, and as we have seen Ya'akov is himself the goat-god, Yisra-Eli equivalent of Pan or Dionysus.

And does this give us in addition a clue as to the meaning of the name Emorite (Amorite)? A shepherd?

So for a final rendition: "Naphtali is the offspring of the goat-god; he will produce fine sheep and goats." Every one of Ya'akov's blessings is really a horoscopal reading, in the proper sense of the word: an oracle based on the zodiacal signs which each tribe represents. With Naphtali we are in the realm, not of Sagittarius, but of Capricorn.

HOWEVER!

The name is said by Rachel to mean "strife" (Genesis 30:8) taking the root as Patal (פתל = "twist", "turn") and placing it in the passive. This would link it with Egyptian Nephthys (pronounced Nebthet; Nephthys is the Greek mis-pronunciation), the daughter of Geb and Nut, the sister of Osher (Osiris), Eshet (Isis) and Hor (Horus), as well as being the the sister and wife of Shet. See under Naphtuchim.

Naphtali's western border runs alongside that of Asher, who is identified with Osher (Osiris), which makes the connection suddenly more plausible. The Rachelite connections with Egypt have been demonstrated elsewhere (see especially RACHEL and BIN-YAMIN), and Dan, who was the son of Rachel's "handmaiden" Bilhah, was located on Naphtali's eastern border, making a rather splendid Egyptian-linked triad as the three northern tribes (though only after Dan was removed from his tribal inheritance, further south on the Mediterranean coast - see notes on DAN to understand why this may not have been correct).

HOWEVER!

There is one more root that could be the source of the name Naphtali, NOPHET, which is found, inter alia, in Psalm 19:11 (19:10 in some translations) and Song of Songs 4:11, in the first case referring to the honey that is dripping from the comb, in the second rather more sensually from the lover's lips.

The final possibility, NEPHET, which is used to mean "a lofty place" in Joshua 17:11, is in fact not connected at all; that word comes from the root NOF, meaning "height" or "elevation" (cf Psalm 48:3).

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