Extensive Definition
Naphtali () () was, according to the Book of
Genesis, the second son of Jacob and Bilhah, and the
founder of the Israelite
Tribe of
Naphtali; however some Biblical
scholars view this as postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness
of the tribe to others in the Israelite confederation. The text of
the Torah
argues that the name of Naphtali refers to the struggle between
Rachel and
Leah for the
favours of Jacob; Bilhah was the handmaid of Rachel, who had
thought herself to be infertile, and had persuaded
Jacob to have a child with Bilhah as a proxy for having one with
herself.
In the Biblical account, Bilhah's status as a
handmaid, rather than an actual wife of Jacob, is regarded by
biblical
scholars as indicating that the authors saw the tribe of
Naphtali as being not of entirely Israelite origin; this may have
been the result of a typographic error, as the names of Naphtali
and Issachar appear to
have changed places elsewhere in the text, and the birth narrative
of Naphtali and Issachar is regarded by textual
scholars as having been spliced together from its
sources in a manner which has highly corrupted the narrative.
with their descendants remaining there until the
Exodus.
According to the apocryphal
Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, he died aged 137 and was
buried in Egypt.
References
naphtali in Danish: Naftali
naphtali in Modern Greek (1453-): Νεφθαλί
(πρόσωπο)
naphtali in Spanish: Neftalí
naphtali in Persian: نفتالی
naphtali in French: Nephtali
naphtali in Indonesian: Naftali
naphtali in Hebrew: נפתלי
naphtali in Dutch: Naftali
naphtali in Polish: Naftali (postać
biblijna)
naphtali in Portuguese: Naftali
naphtali in Russian: Неффалим
naphtali in Swedish: Naftali (israelisk
stamfader)
naphtali in Chinese: 拿弗他利