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Naphtali
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Naphtali (Hebrew: נַפְתָּלִי, Standard Naftali Tiberian Nap̄tālî ; "My struggle") is the sixth son of Jacob and the founder of the tribe of Naphtali, first mentioned in the Book of Genesis and as described in the Hebrew Bible.
His father Jacob had married two women, Rachel and Leah, who were sisters. Leah had given Jacob four sons, while Rachel, it seemed, was barren. Consequently, in line with the custom of the day, Rachel had provided her maidservant Bilhah to Jacob as a concubine, with the understanding that any children Bilhah bore him would count as hers.
Accordingly, when Naphtali was born, although Bilhah was his biological mother, he was considered Rachel's, and Rachel named him. In her joy at his birth she said, "I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won" (Genesis 30:8, NIV). This became the source of his name "Naphtali," meaning "my struggle." Naphtali's descendants formed the tribe of Naphtali, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The tribe occupied portions of the northeastern parts of Israel, which included the Sea of Galilee.
| Sons of Jacob by wife in order of birth (D = Daughter) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leah | Reuben (1) | Simeon (2) | Levi (3) | Judah (4) | Issachar (9) | Zebulun (10) | Dinah (D) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rachel | Joseph (11) | Benjamin (12) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bilhah (Rachel's servant) | Dan (5) | Naphtali (6) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zilpah (Leah's servant) | Gad (7) | Asher (8) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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