Tribe of Naphtali

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The Tribe of Naphtali (my struggle) was one of the Tribes of Israel. At its height, Naphtali occupied the eastern side of the Galilee (on the immediate west of the Sea of Galilee), in the areas now known as the Lower Galilee, and Upper Galilee, and was bordered on the west by Asher, in the north by Dan, in the south by Zebulun, and by the Jordan River on the east; the most significant city was Hazor. In this region, bordering the Sea of Galilee, was the highly fertile plain of Gennesaret, characterised by Josephus as the ambition of nature, an earthly paradise[1], and with the southern portion of the region acting as a natural pass between the highlands of Canaan, several major roads (such as those from Damascus to Tyre and Acre) ran through it[2]. The prosperity this situation brought is seemingly prophesied in the Blessing of Moses, though textual scholars view this as a clear case of postdiction, dating the poem to well after the tribe had been established in the land[3][4].

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[edit] Origin

According to the Torah, the tribe was founded by Naphtali, a son of Jacob and Bilhah, from whom it took its name; however Biblical scholars view this also as postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite confederation[5].

[edit] Character

Militarism is featured in Naphtali's history. In the ancient Song of Deborah, Naphtali are commended, along with Zebulun, for risking their lives in the fight against Sisera[6]; in the prose account of the event[7], which textual scholars regard as a much later narrative based on the poem[8][9], there is the addition that Barak, the leader of the anti-Sisera forces, hails from the tribe of Naphtali[10]. In the Gideon narrative Naphtali are one of the tribes which join in an attack against Midianite invaders, though textual scholars regard the Gideon narrative as being spliced together from at least three earlier texts, the oldest of which describes only personal vengeance by Gideon and 300 men of his own clan, not a battle in which the rest of the northern tribes join him[11]. In the Blessing of Jacob, which textual scholars date to 700-600 BC - and thus a postdiction, Naphtali is compared to a hind let loose, and commended for giving goodly words[12].

The territory allotted to the tribe in Canaan was in the extreme north, and was bordered on the north by the Litani River, on the east by the River Jordan until it was 12 miles (19 km) south of the Sea of Galilee, on the west by the tribes of Aser and Zabulon; and on the south by the tribe of Issachar.[13]

[edit] Fate

As part of the Kingdom of Israel, during one of the several wars between the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, Naphtali was persecuted by Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram-Damascus, on behalf of Asa, the king of Judah, and desolated. Centuries later, the Assyrians invaded Israel, which, though it had been a tributary, had also defaulted, and so Naphtali, one of the most northerly tribes, became one of the first to be conquered. With the land taken, the tribe were exiled; the manner of their exile lead to their further history being lost.

Image:naftali.JPG
"Naphtali" The symbol of this tribe is a gazelle-a very quick animal. The people of Naftali were famous for being great runners.

[edit] References

  1. ^ This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.
  2. ^ G. A. Smith, "The Historical Geography of the Holy Land,"
  3. ^ Richard Elliott Friedman, Who Wrote The Bible
  4. ^ Peake's commentary on the Bible
  5. ^ Peake's commentary on the Bible
  6. ^ Judges 5:18
  7. ^ Judges 4
  8. ^ Peake's commentary on the Bible
  9. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia, Song of Deborah'
  10. ^ Judges 4:6
  11. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia, Gideon
  12. ^ Gen. 49:21
  13. ^ Joshua, 19:33-34, quoted in   "Nephtali". Catholic Encyclopedia. (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company.