Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Naphtali is a doe set free, who bears beautiful fawns.
- BSB Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.
- NKJV “Naphtali is a deer let loose; He uses beautiful words.
- NASB ¶“Naphtali is a doe let loose; He utters beautiful words.
- NLT “Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Naphtali is compared to a freed doe that bears beautiful fawns.
Overview
The image suggests grace, freedom, and fruitful agility for this tribe. Some translations read it as bearing 'beautiful words,' but the picture of a swift, free deer conveys liberty and flourishing. The blessing pictures the kind of joyful liberty God grants, fully realized in the freedom His people have in Christ (John 8:36).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Deut 33:23And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the LORD: possess thou the west and the south.
- Gen 30:8And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.
- Judg 5:18Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.
- Josh 19:32–39The sixth lot came out to the children of Naphtali, even for the children of Naphtali according to their families.
- Gen 46:24And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.
- Ps 18:33–34He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon my high places.
- Judg 4:6And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?
- Matt 4:15–16The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
- Judg 4:10And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 49:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.