The sixth lot came forth to the children of Naphtali, for the children of Naphtali according to their families.
The sixth lot falls to Naphtali, and the record gives little more than a name and a list of borders. Yet the name Naphtali means "my wrestling," and commentators read this short notice as a lesson about both the God who hands out each portion and the fight to hold it.
The tribes west of the Jordan received their land by lot. The method itself says who was dividing the country.
The tribes received their inheritance by lot, and casting the lot marks the way the land west of the Jordan was shared out. The portion on the east side, as noted elsewhere, was settled without it. The lot showed the mind of God more clearly than any other way: "its every decision is from the LORD," says the voice of inspiration itself (Prov. 16:33). But the lot seems only to have fixed the position of these possessions, not their extent. That left room to revise boundary lines as individual tribes grew or shrank through their faithfulness or unfaithfulness.
Naphtali's name comes from words his mother spoke at his birth, which the ESV renders "with mighty wrestlings."
Naphtali follows Asher in the sixth place. "With divine wrestlings" — wrestlings strengthened by God — says Rachel at his birth, "I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed." So his name is Naphtali, "my wrestling." In the sixth place here, that name speaks of the overcomer. Overcoming is the subject now put before us.
So who counts as an overcomer? The answer rests on faith, not on performance.
In this matter too Naphtali represents all Israel, for in one very real sense every true believer is an overcomer. "Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 John 5:5). The victory that overcomes the world is not our works, but our faith (1 John 5:4). All Israel overcame the enemies of the land in general, though in practice they were by no means always overcomers. So believers are all overcomers in principle, and ought to be so in daily practice too. We should care about the details as well as about overcoming in general.
Naphtali's border runs in two stretches, and both end at the Jordan. One writer finds in them the two sides of overcoming.
The two parts divide the subject in two. The first reminds us of the steadfastness that belongs to overcoming. The second reminds us of the progress that overcoming implies. "Steady progress," in a world like this, means "overcoming."
The first name on the border list is Heleph. Its meaning shows where steadfastness begins.
Heleph means "renewal," and this is the first element of steadfastness. Naphtali warns us of strife we can never escape. The wear and tear it brings makes it impossible to hold our own, unless the constant loss is repaired just as constantly. "Our inner self is being renewed day by day" (2 Cor. 4:16), says the apostle. This drawing on divine strength must come first.
The name does not only point to struggle. The same commentary elsewhere reads it as a struggle that has reached its end.
This brings us to Naphtali, which means "my wrestling." The idea is not so much that the struggle goes on. It has reached a conclusion in victory, and that brings freedom. It expresses the blessedness of the new place in which a man now finds himself. Moses says of Naphtali, "sated with favor, and full of the blessing of the LORD." So he becomes "a doe let loose," with all fear removed, and his tongue set free to speak good words. These are the sacrifices of the lips that confess His name (Heb. 13:15).
Centuries later the Gospels name this same ground. By then its state was the opposite of victory.
Galilee, as "the land of Zebulun and Naphtali" on the one hand, and now "Galilee of the Gentiles" on the other, spoke plainly of the ruin into which the people of God had sunk... Now it was only "the way of the sea," as if swallowed up in its waters. Naphtali, the struggler, sat struggling no more, in darkness that was indeed the "shadow of death." But the Saviour of sinners is not stopped by that. There in the darkness was the very place for light to spring up. And now there had come to Zebulun a Dweller, in whom God Himself could dwell with man. To Naphtali had come more than a struggler — a glorious Conqueror, the woman's Seed.
- Assigned, not chosen. The lot fixed where each tribe would live, so God chose the placing. Faithfulness or unfaithfulness then decided how far the borders reached.
- Named for struggle. Naphtali means "my wrestling," and in sixth place he is the overcomer — the theme of the whole section.
- Overcoming by faith. Every believer is an overcomer in principle, because the victory is faith, not works. The call is to live it out day by day.
- Steadiness plus movement. Both halves of the border end at the Jordan. Overcoming joins steadfastness to progress, and it starts with renewal, because constant loss needs constant repair.
- Struggle to song. The wrestling ends in victory: satisfied, set free, and given good words to speak. To this same darkened north there later came not just a struggler, but a Conqueror.
And their border was from Heleph, from the oak of Zaanannim; and Adami-nekeb and Jabneel to Lakkum; and ended at the Jordan;
The names in this verse are survey markers along Naphtali's border. The line runs from Heleph and stops at the Jordan. Yet commentators find two things in this border: the hand that assigned it, and a picture of holding ground in a hostile world.
The lot settled each tribe's position before anyone drew a boundary. One writer notes how much this method said, and how much it left open:
The casting of the lot expressed the mind of God in a way more distinct than any other. As Scripture itself says, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord" (Prov. 16:33). But the lot seems only to have fixed the position of these possessions, not their extent. That left room to revise the boundary lines, since a tribe might increase or decrease according to its faithfulness or unfaithfulness. Had they all been faithful, their growing territories would have made such revision necessary.
The tribe's name carries the story of its birth, and with it the theme that shapes the whole allotment.
Naphtali follows Asher in the sixth place. At his birth Rachel speaks of "divine wrestlings" — wrestlings strengthened by God: "I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed." So his name is Naphtali, "my wrestling." In the sixth place here that name speaks clearly of the overcomer. Overcoming is the subject now presented to us.
The verse gives Naphtali's borders; his towns come later. One writer treats the two parts as two subjects:
In the boundary we have, first, what overcoming is; for to define is to bound, to limit. In the second division (the cities), we have what helps and what hinders overcoming... The boundary is itself divided into two parts, which both end at Jordan... the first reminding us of the steadfastness that belongs to overcoming; the second, of the progress that it implies. "Steady progress," in a world like this, means "overcoming."
The first marker sets the order: supply comes before effort.
Heleph means "renewal," and this is the first element of steadfastness. Naphtali warns us that we can never escape the strife. Its wear and tear makes it impossible to hold our own, unless the constant waste is as constantly repaired. "The inward man is renewed day by day" (2 Cor. 4:16), says the apostle. This drawing from divine strength is necessarily the first thing.
The landmark here is a tree, not a town. A reference work notes the wording and where it reappears:
Instead of "the Plain of Zaanaim" it is more accurately translated the "oak of Zaanaim," Judges 4:11. It is the same place as Zaanannim here, and is only known as being somewhere near Kadesh in Naphtali.
The name itself carries a second picture:
The name comes from the "oak of ladings," the place where loads are put on the pack animals. We have just such daily loads, measured to our strength and with intervals of relief. To take up this daily duty is an essential part of overcoming, drudgery as it may seem, and as the picture suggests. In Christian life there are no drones, but all are workers; no easy posts, but plenty everywhere to do... No triflers can be overcomers. Daily duty is a daily discipline, the training needed for the conflict that falls to us all.
The third marker names the cost that honest duty brings.
Adami-nekeb means "the stigma of man." If duty has the right Christian character for us, we shall not miss it. They were the "marks of the Lord Jesus" that Paul bore in his body (Gal. 6:17), from a world that had rejected Christ. Will any overcomer be without them?... Without Adami-nekeb there could surely be no prevailing Naphtali at all.
The line stops at the river, and one writer gives that ending weight:
Lakkum, "to resurrection"... "knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into His presence" (2 Cor. 4:13-14)... The border ends at the Jordan. Death is the limit of the struggle Naphtali pictures, and divine grace has already triumphed over it.
One writer follows Naphtali's name into a later day, when the tribe's land lay in darkness:
Naphtali, the struggler, sat struggling no more, in darkness which was indeed the "shadow of death." But the Saviour of sinners is not hindered by this. There in the darkness was the very place for light to spring up. And now there had come... to Naphtali more than a struggler, a glorious Conqueror, the woman's Seed.
- Assigned — The lot fixed each tribe's position. God chose the place; how far the border reached was left to the tribe's faithfulness.
- Renewed — Heleph means "renewal," and it stands first. Strength drawn from God comes before any holding of ground.
- Loaded — The oak at Zaanannim pictures the daily burden taken up; no triflers can be overcomers.
- Marked — Adami-nekeb, "the stigma of man," is the reproach honest duty brings. No overcomer escapes it.
- Ended — The border stops at the Jordan, so death is the limit of the struggle. Lakkum, "to resurrection," says that limit is already beaten.
and the border turned westwards to Aznoth-Tabor, and went out from thence to Hukkok, and reached to Zebulun on the south, and reached to Asher on the west, and to Judah upon Jordan towards the sun-rising.
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Naphtali's neighbours fix its place on the map.
Naphtali was north of Zebulon and east of Asher (v.34), so that its territory was in the far north of the land, as was Asher, including many fortified cities.
The tribe's name, given at his birth, points to struggle — and to struggle that comes out on top.
Naphtali follows Asher in the sixth place. At his birth Rachel says, "with divine wrestlings" — wrestlings strengthened by God — "have I wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed." That is why his name is Naphtali, "my wrestling." In the sixth place here it speaks of the overcomer. So overcoming is the subject presented to us now.
The same name puts every believer in Naphtali's place, and names where the victory comes from.
Naphtali means "my wrestlings," so this adds the lesson of overcoming in conflict. In this matter too Naphtali represents all Israel, for in one very real respect every true believer is an overcomer. "Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 Jn.5:5). The victory that overcomes the world is not our works, but our faith (1 Jn.5:4). So believers are all overcomers in principle, and ought to be so in daily practice too. We should be concerned about details as well as overcoming in general.
The account keeps Naphtali's border separate from Naphtali's cities, and each part teaches something different.
In the case of Naphtali, the boundary is distinguished from the cities of his possession. In the boundary we have, first, what overcoming is; for to define is to bound, to limit. The second division (the cities) presents the helps and hindrances to overcoming.
Verse 34 opens the second half of this line.
The boundary is itself divided into two parts, which both end at Jordan. They divide the subject into two parts. The first reminds us of the steadfastness that belongs to overcoming. The second reminds us of the progress that it implies. "Steady progress," in a world like this, means "overcoming."
The first name in the verse is about what we choose to hear.
Aznoth-tabor means "ears of purpose" — hearing that has purpose in it. If Job could speak of "making covenant with his eyes" (Job 31:1), a covenant with the ears is no less to be desired. "Take heed what you hear," and "take heed how you hear," are both exhortations from the Lord Himself. (Mark 4:24; Luke 8:18.) We are not to be open to all influences, but to be like sensitive plants, recoiling from contact with evil. An unwalled town is easy to occupy, and continued exposure to disease saps the power of resistance. The company we choose makes us like itself.
The rest of the names form one journey — a straight path past each neighbouring tribe. The puzzling "Judah" beside the Jordan does not hold it up.
Hukkok, a "well defined" path, clear cut and straight, to the point it aims at. "I have set the Lord always before me," is what keeps it from wandering and inconsistency. This path connects with Zebulon, "consecration," leads to Asher, "happiness," and finds Judah, "praise," at Jordan. It travels with the dawn in view, "toward the sunrise." The uncertainty about this Judah puzzles commentators. For our purpose we need not settle it, and it is no real difficulty: the moral lesson is the same. Good progress is there all along this boundary, and triumph all the way.
The older translation here read "Judah of Jordan toward the sunrising." The ESV has "Judah on the east at the Jordan."
Centuries later the names of these two tribes described a nation in decline.
Zebulon was the dweller in relationship, as he should have been. He had long fulfilled Jacob's prophecy, and "dwelling at the haven of the sea" had become the type of Israel as a whole, giving up its "dwelling alone" to mingle in adulterous commerce with the nations. Now it was only "the way of the sea," as if swallowed up in its waters. Naphtali, the struggler, sat struggling no more, in darkness which was indeed the "shadow of death." But the Saviour of sinners is not hindered like that. There in the darkness was the very place for light to spring up. And now there had come to Zebulon a Dweller, in whom God Himself could dwell with man; and to Naphtali more than a struggler, a glorious Conqueror.
- Named — Naphtali means "my wrestling," and in this place in the list he stands for the overcomer.
- Bounded — the border shows what overcoming is, since to define is to set limits. The cities that follow show what helps and hinders it.
- Directed — Aznoth-tabor, "ears of purpose," starts the line with chosen hearing, because the company we keep shapes us.
- Straight — Hukkok is the clear-cut path. It runs past consecration (Zebulun) and happiness (Asher) to praise (Judah) at the Jordan, facing the sunrise.
- Answered — the wrestler's land later sat in darkness. That was where the light rose, and Naphtali received more than a struggler: a Conqueror.
And the fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, and Hammath, Rakkath, and Chinnereth,
This verse lists five walled towns inside the land given to Naphtali. They are bare names with no story attached, which raises a question: why does God keep such a record, and what did these places mean?
Naphtali's portion lay at the top of the land.
Naphtali was north of Zebulun and east of Asher (v.34). So its territory was in the far north of the land, as was Asher, and it included many fortified cities.
Rakkath, the fourth name in the list, is linked to a city named in the New Testament:
Fortified city of Naphtali. Joshua 19:35. Judged to be the same as TIBERIAS in the New Testament.
The second half of Joshua lists land in minute detail, and the detail is the point.
Another part of Joshua is the actual inheritance, after the conflict is over. How wonderful that every city, every valley, every spring, everything is dwelt upon in such minute detail in the last half of the book! Without doubt this is to tell us of the varied spiritual blessings that are ours.
The name given at this son's birth sets the theme for everything listed under him.
Naphtali follows Asher in the sixth place. "With divine wrestlings" — wrestlings strengthened by God? — says Rachel at his birth: "I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed." So his name, Naphtali, "my wrestling," which, in the sixth place here, speaks clearly of the overcomer. So overcoming is the subject presented to us now.
The chapter gives Naphtali's border first and then his cities, and the two parts carry different lessons.
In the case of Naphtali, the boundary is distinguished from the cities of his possession. In the boundary we have, first, what overcoming is; for to define something is to set its limits. In the second division (the cities), we have presented the helps and hindrances to overcoming.
The first name on the list stands on its own, and its meaning describes how the enemy attacks.
Ziddim stands by itself at the head of the list, and means "lying in wait." … The apostle tells us to "stand against" the "schemes of the devil" (Eph. 6), and for that he would have us "put on the whole armor of God." So we might say that "lying in wait" is the governing thought in what follows here. It would naturally be a prominent one, since Satan is the great adversary, and he always prefers to fight under cover. Deceit and sudden surprises are his tactics: and by these he gains all too frequent advantage.
The next two names sit together, and each carries its own danger.
Zer and Hammath come together in the next place, and are in some respects contrasts. Zer means "strait," "adversity." Hammath means "heat of the sun," prosperity. Both, as we can easily understand, are really adverse. And the second is often more adverse than the first: the sun may smite.
Rakkath opens a new group of five, and its name is unflattering to man.
First of the first five, Rakkath, "emptiness," "vanity." It is the basic lesson of all about man.
Chinnereth comes next, and turns that emptiness into something God can use.
Next, Chinnereth, which means "harp," suggests the music of which he may be the instrument, under the divine hand. Israel used the harp to express joy and praise, not lamentation; and this is what God made man for. Among the Greeks, however, much the same word seems to have been used for "lamentation." And man, yielding himself to other hands than the divine, has fulfilled this character in full. … Feeble as man is, He who chooses the weak things of the world to glorify Himself with will be at no loss to know how to make him a witness to Himself.
Centuries later this northern land appears again in the Gospels. Its old names show how far Israel had fallen — and what God did about it.
Galilee, as "the land of Zebulun and Naphtali" on the one hand, and now "Galilee of the Gentiles" on the other, spoke plainly of the ruin into which the people of God had sunk. … Now it was only "the way of the sea," as if swallowed up in its waters. Naphtali, the struggler, sat struggling no more, in darkness which was indeed the "shadow of death." But the Saviour of sinners is not hindered like this. There in the darkness was the very place for light to spring up. … and to Naphtali more than a struggler, a glorious Conqueror, the woman's Seed.
- Named — No city here is just a name. Each one speaks of a spiritual blessing that belongs to God's people.
- Wrestling — Naphtali means "my wrestling," so this inheritance is the overcomer's portion.
- Ambush — Ziddim, "lying in wait," heads the list: the adversary prefers cover, deceit and sudden surprise.
- Both Sides — Zer is hardship, Hammath the heat of prosperity; commentators note the sunny side is often the more dangerous.
- Light — Rakkath says man is empty; Chinnereth says that in God's hand he becomes a harp of praise. And where Naphtali sat in darkness, the light rose.
and Adamah, and Ramah, and Hazor,
This verse sits inside the list of towns given to the tribe of Naphtali, in the north of the land. Three names are all it holds. So why does God record bare place names, and what does each one carry for a later reader?
Start with the name of the tribe itself.
Naphtali means "my wrestlings," so this adds the lesson of overcoming in conflict. In this matter too Naphtali represents all Israel, for in one very real respect every true believer is an overcomer. "Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 John 5:5). The victory that overcomes the world is not our works, but our faith (1 John 5:4). Believers are all overcomers in principle, and ought to be so in daily practice as well.
The border and the towns carry two different lessons.
In the case of Naphtali, the boundary is distinguished from the cities of his possession. In the boundary we have, first, what overcoming is; for to define is to bound, to limit. In the second division — the cities — we have presented the helps and hindrances to overcoming.
So these three towns belong to the second division — the helps and hindrances. The first of them is the word for ground.
In the third place, Adamah, "ground," carries on the thought. Man is Adam, from adamah, "dust from the ground"; and in the ground every element of all flesh is found. God has to add to it a higher principle to make it flesh, and so lift it into a higher sphere. Instead of mere chemistry, life now runs through it, and it shows powers completely foreign to it before. So with man himself: what he is in the old creation is only the shadow of what he shall be in the new creation. The dust of the ground, lifted up in man, is a type and prophecy of man himself.
Next comes a name meaning height, and height sitting next to dust makes its own point.
Ramah, an "elevated place," gives us a very different line of thought. Here something is lifted high while it still keeps the frailty of its origin, and that alone makes the lesson clear. "Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish," says the psalmist (Psalm 49). God uses this lifting up to teach the lesson, and uses it to humble pride; not for destruction, but so that the creature may learn what is so needful for him. Let him only accept it, and he shall find strength: "to him who has no might He increases strength."
The last of the three names closes the run, and closes it with God near a weak creature.
Hazor, a familiar word to us, "enclosure," comes in the fifth place, where we find man with God once more. The arms of God are about this feeble creature. There is providential care — the "hedge" around Job, which Satan complains about so much. Eden itself was the first type of that hedge. The memory of it survives as a witness to us, a witness for One who stays the same, however far His creature may have wandered from Him. Hazor is not Eden, and yet God is no less near.
Hazor is also the one name here with a long and troubled history behind and ahead of it.
Ancient city and capital of northern Palestine. Joshua took it and burned it. It was rebuilt and given to Naphtali, but a second Jabin, king of Canaan, took it back, and Deborah and Barak defeated him. Solomon fortified it. Later Tiglath-pileser took it and carried its people off to Assyria. Joshua 11:1-13; Joshua 12:19; Joshua 19:36; Judges 4:2, 17; 1 Kings 9:15; 2 Kings 15:29.
A list of towns can look like filler. Commentators read it as proof that God measures out what He gives.
God marked out their borders. The Spirit of God takes notice of everything when He gives out the spiritual inheritance, and He gives to each according to the mind of God. There is nothing uncertain in God's arrangements. But not one tribe drove all the enemies of God out of His inheritance. Not one took possession of all that God had given him.
- Wrestling. Naphtali's name means "my wrestlings." Its portion pictures the overcomer. Every believer is an overcomer in principle, and should be one in daily practice.
- Ground. Adamah recalls that man is dust with a higher principle added; what he is now is only the shadow of what he will be in the new creation.
- Height. Ramah sets height beside that frailty. God humbles pride instead of destroying it, and gives strength to the one with no might.
- Enclosure. Hazor ends the group with God's arms around the feeble creature — the hedge once seen around Job, of which Eden was the first type.
- Recorded. Marked borders show that God leaves nothing uncertain in what He gives. The failure was Israel's: no tribe took all that God gave.
and Kedesh, and Edrei, and En-Hazor,
Three names in Naphtali's northern list look like nothing more than surveyor's notes. Yet one of them became a city of refuge, and the tribe they belong to is named after wrestling. Together they trace a path from shelter to pasture to a spring that never dries.
One writer places Naphtali on the map:
Naphtali was north of Zebulon and east of Asher (v.34). So its territory lay in the far north of the land, as Asher's did, and it included many fortified cities.
Kedesh outgrew the list. It went to the Levites, Israel's priestly tribe, and it carried further roles:
City in Naphtali, allotted to the Levites, and a city of refuge. Joshua 12:22; Joshua 19:37; Joshua 20:7; Joshua 21:32; 2 Kings 15:29; 1 Chr. 6:76. Called KEDESH-NAPHTALI in Judges 4:6. Some have supposed that Barak gathered his army, not at Kedesh in Naphtali, but somewhere nearer to Mount Tabor and the river Kishon, where Sisera had his troops (Judges 4:10-13).
Rachel named this son after a struggle:
Naphtali follows Asher in the sixth place. At his birth Rachel says, "I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed" — wrestlings strengthened by God. So his name is Naphtali, "my wrestling," and in the sixth place here it speaks of the overcomer. So overcoming is the subject before us now.
Another writer applies that to believers now:
All Israel were overcomers, because in general they overcame the enemies of the land. Yet in practice they were by no means always overcomers. So believers are all overcomers in principle, and they ought to be overcomers in daily practice too. We should care about the details as well as about overcoming in general.
One writer pairs Kedesh with a similar name at the southern edge of the land:
Kedesh means "sanctuary." At the southern border of Israel we had Kadesh-barnea, the "sanctuary of the wanderer." Here we have Kedesh-naphtali, the "sanctuary of the struggler." ... Here are arms that wrap right around us, dearer than all God's providing, however wonderful. They are a "sanctuary" — holy, and pressing us toward holiness.
Another writer reads the cities of refuge by their names:
Only three cities of refuge are named in the books of Moses. Here the three cities inside the land are added. Kedesh was in Naphtali. Kedesh means "sanctuary," and Naphtali means "wrestler-struggler." Christ is the refuge for the struggling sinner. Shechem means "shoulder," and is the type of service. He who is the perfect servant, who served and gave His life, is the place of refuge. Kirjath-arba, which is Hebron, is the third, and Hebron means "communion." We find this in Him.
The two names after Kedesh belong with it:
Where our refuge is, there is also, as we know so well, food and welcome. Edrei, "plenty of pasture," follows Kedesh, and we are at once reminded of a Shepherd's care. Then we have En-hazor, the "spring of enclosure." ... Our pastures know no drought. Our enclosure has its plentiful streams, beyond even Eden's.
Years later Deborah summoned Barak from Kedesh to fight Israel's enemies. Commentators differ on where he gathered his army, but one writer links the place with the calling:
Deborah calls Barak out of Kedesh-Naphtali, the "sanctuary of the struggler." It speaks of rest in humbling ourselves, and, as a city of refuge, of the work of Christ. Here in fact is the source of deliverance, and also the condition in which deliverance can be made good to us.
Fortified cities and a sanctuary town did not keep the tribe steady:
The greater the blessing here, the greater the loss, of course. Naphtali, the struggler, needs this sanctuary home that he may be the overcomer that he is called to be. Sadly, like the other tribes here, he is losing his character. The precious things God has made his own are now only witnesses of a glory that has departed from him.
- Struggle — Naphtali means "my wrestling." Overcoming is the theme these cities are listed under.
- Sanctuary — Kedesh means "sanctuary": a shelter for the struggler that is holy and presses him toward holiness.
- Refuge — Kedesh was a Levite city and one of the six cities of refuge. One writer sees in it Christ as the refuge of the struggling sinner.
- Supply — Edrei, "plenty of pasture," and En-hazor, "spring of enclosure," show a refuge that also feeds and waters those inside it.
- Strength — Deborah called Barak out of this sanctuary town to free Israel. Yet Naphtali later lost the character these places were meant to sustain.
and Jiron, and Migdal-el, Horem, and Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh nineteen cities and their hamlets.
These five names close Naphtali's land in the far north, and the total that follows puzzles careful readers: the names listed come to fewer than nineteen. Commentators read them as more than geography — Naphtali means "my wrestling," and his portion pictures the overcomer's path.
Writers read the whole list through the tribe's name, which goes back to his birth.
Naphtali follows Asher in the sixth place. At his birth Rachel says, "With divine wrestlings" — wrestlings strengthened by God — "have I wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed." So his name is Naphtali, "my wrestling," which in the sixth place here speaks clearly of the overcomer. Overcoming is the subject presented to us now.
The record itself is built in two halves, and each half carries its own lesson.
In the case of Naphtali, the boundary is distinguished from the cities of his possession. In the boundary we have, first, what overcoming is; for to define is to bound, to limit. In the second division (the cities), we have presented the helps and hindrances to overcoming.
The first name, Yiron (also spelled Iron), means "fearing." Grace, not law, produces this kind of fear.
In the fourth place, Iron, "fearing," speaks of what grace — beyond nature or the terrors of law — awakens in the creature brought this near to God. This does not put us at a distance, or make us want distance. It is simply the creature conscious of being a creature, and that consciousness is its safeguard. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom": for God is kept in His place, and man in his. This is the simple key to true understanding.
The next name raises the question of where strength comes from.
In the fifth place, then, we have Migdal-el, "a tower of strength," where El, "strength," is also "God": for is there really any strength apart from Him?
The last three names go together, and the first is about clearing ground.
The fourth division has only three names, and these speak, as is usual with that number, of practical walk. First, as a mark of wholeheartedness, Horem — like Hormah — means "devoting to God." In general it means devoting what could only glorify Him by being destroyed. Israel was to destroy the idols of the land without mercy. There are idols of the heart just as evil in God's sight, and a true-hearted following of Him will condemn them no less.
The list ends with two names that are both homes.
Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath are simple enough as "house of the sun" and "house of response." They do not need much interpretation either. If there are still "many who say, Who will show us any good?", every believing soul can find it, like the psalmist, in the light of God's face. This alone is our sun. Beth-anath, the "house of response," speaks of what surely goes with this: the answer of God to the soul that seeks Him, and the answer of the soul to God. That is a sweet and tender intimacy of fellowship, and it is strength for all the way. The "Beths" in both names imply what is settled and lasting. The "house" is, as we say, the home, the place of relationship and of shared affection... Naphtali, the struggler, needs this home as a sanctuary, so that he may be the overcomer he is called to be.
The stated total does not match the names counted. One writer says so plainly.
We now come to the cities, nineteen as they are numbered, though in fact sixteen, unless some of those on the boundary are to be counted in. The sharp division between the two is against counting them in. I know of no way to settle this difficulty, since the manuscripts and versions agree here... Yet it is hard to believe that names were simply lost, and more reasonable to suppose that the number was altered.
after-check: none
Two of the cities in this verse come up again later, and not for good. Beth-anath was a city of Naphtali "whose inhabitants were not driven out, but were made to pay tribute" (Morrish Bible Dictionary). Another writer weighs what that arrangement cost them.
It is similarly said of Naphtali that, failing to drive out the inhabitants of two cities, they lived among the Canaanites (v. 33). However, in this case the inhabitants of those cities were put under tribute, showing that Naphtali did have the upper hand. But this compromise again left them too closely tied to the enemy, the Canaanites.
Centuries later Jesus made His home in this same northern country.
Now it was only "the way of the sea," as if swallowed up in its waters. Naphtali, the struggler, sat struggling no more, in a darkness that was truly the "shadow of death." But the Saviour of sinners is not stopped by that. There in the darkness was the very place for light to spring up... and to Naphtali came more than a struggler — a glorious Conqueror, the woman's Seed.
- Wrestling. Naphtali means "my wrestling." Writers read his portion as the picture of the overcomer, so overcoming is the theme of his cities.
- Fear. Yiron, "fearing," is what grace awakens in a creature brought near. Not distance from God — but God in His place, and man in his.
- Strength. Migdal-el, "a tower of strength," carries God's own name in it — because there is no strength apart from Him.
- Devoting. Horem means giving over to destruction; the idols of the land had to go, and so do the idols of the heart.
- Response. The list ends at the "house of the sun" and the "house of response" — God's light, and an answering fellowship that is strength for the whole way. Yet those two cities were taxed, never cleared. The tribe that stopped wrestling ended in darkness — until the true Conqueror came and made His home there.
This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali according to their families, the cities and their hamlets.
Verse 39 closes the account of Naphtali's portion with a summary line. Two questions sit behind it: why does God record the town list of one tribe at all, and what does a tribe named "my wrestling" teach us?
The verse names the tribe that receives, but the tribe did not do the dividing:
The lesson, however, is that the Lord distributed the inheritance to His people and placed them as it pleased Him. He knew their faithfulness and their ability, and so they received their portion. And we, too, as members of His body, receive our portion and inheritance from Himself. He "apportions to each one individually as he wills" (1 Corinthians 12:11).
Lists of villages look like filler. Another writer treats them as the point of the book's second half:
But there is another part of Joshua: the actual inheritance after the conflict is over. How wonderful it is that the last half of the book dwells on every city, every valley, every spring — everything — in such fine detail! It is surely there to tell us of the varied spiritual blessings that are ours.
The tribe's name goes back to words spoken at the birth of Jacob's son, and it sets the subject of all that follows:
Naphtali follows Asher in the sixth place. "With divine wrestlings" — wrestlings strengthened by God — says Rachel at his birth, "I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed." That is why his name is Naphtali, "my wrestling," which, in the sixth place here, speaks clearly of the overcomer. So overcoming is the subject presented to us now.
Another writer applies this to every believer, and he is honest about the gap between what is true of us and how we live:
In this matter too Naphtali represents all Israel, for in one very real respect every true believer is an overcomer. "Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 John 5:5). The victory that overcomes the world is not our works, but our faith (1 John 5:4). All Israel were overcomers in overcoming the enemies of the land as a whole. In practice, though, they were by no means always overcomers. So believers are all overcomers in principle, and ought to be so in daily practice too. We should be concerned about details as well as overcoming in general.
The record of Naphtali has two halves: the boundary first, then the towns. One writer finds meaning in that split:
In the case of Naphtali, the record keeps the boundary separate from the cities of his possession. In the boundary we have, first, what overcoming is; for to define is to bound, to limit. In the second division (the cities), we have the helps and hindrances to overcoming.
A closing summary can sound final. It was not. God gave the land, but the tribes still had to take hold of it:
These nine and a half tribes had to make their own foothold in their inheritance, though Jehovah Himself fixed where their possessions lay. "By lot was their inheritance," but their actual foothold in it depended on themselves — as it does for the Christian in spiritual things.
Two earlier blessings hang over the land now handed to Naphtali:
Jacob foretold what would happen to the tribes in the last days. Of this tribe he said, "Naphtali is a hind let loose: he gives goodly words" (Genesis 49:21). It is the remnant of Israel as the vessel of testimony. Moses said, "O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the Lord: possess the west and the south" (Deuteronomy 33:23). It is the full blessing of the remnant as Jehovah's people.
The ESV renders these verses "Naphtali is a doe let loose that bears beautiful fawns" and "O Naphtali, sated with favor, and full of the blessing of the LORD, possess the lake and the south."
This land has a later story. One writer sets its darkness beside the coming of the Saviour:
Now it was only "the way of the sea," as if swallowed up in its waters. Naphtali, the struggler, sat struggling no more, in darkness that was truly the "shadow of death." But the Saviour of sinners is not stopped by this. There in the darkness was the very place for light to spring up. And now there had come to Zebulun a Dweller, in whom God Himself could dwell with man. And to Naphtali had come more than a struggler — a glorious Conqueror, the woman's Seed.
- Given — the Lord assigns each portion. He knows our faithfulness and our ability, and He places us as it pleases Him.
- Detailed — Scripture records every town and village, because the inheritance after the conflict pictures the spiritual blessings that are ours.
- Named — "Naphtali" means "my wrestling." The whole portion carries the subject of overcoming.
- Held — the lot came by God's gift, but gaining a foothold in it depended on the tribe — as it does for us in spiritual things.
- Answered — the struggler had stopped struggling and sat in darkness. There light sprang up, and a glorious Conqueror came.