Type: person
Content: [See Jacob's Family Tree]
Naphtali is the sixth son of Jacob. His mother was Bilhah, the maidservant of Rachel, Jacob's second wife.
Gen 30:7Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.Gen 30:8Then Rachel said, “With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed.” So she named him Naphtali.
Rachel was Jacob's favorite, but only her sister Leah had children, and she had none. In her distress, she gave her maidservant Bilhah to her husband as a concubine. When Bilhah bore a son, Rachel named him 'Naphtali', meaning she had wrestled with her sister and prevailed.
Before his death, Jacob blessed his sons. Naphtali received the blessing of being a "doe set free" and uttering "beautiful words."
In keeping with this blessing, the tribe of Naphtali later received fertile land.
Deut 33:23And of Naphtali he said: “O Naphtali, abounding in favor and full of the blessing of the Lord, possess the west and the south.”