Naphtali
Also called Nephthalim
Born 1753 BC traditional (Jones)
My wrestling, the fifth son of Jacob. His mother was Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid (Gen. 30:8).
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897).
- The 24th generation from Adam, counting Adam as the first.
- Born in the era of the Patriarchs, 1996–1707 BC.
- Named in the same verses as Dan, Asher, Bilhah, Gad, Guni, Jahzeel, Jezer, and Rachel.
Computed from the data. Years are traditional (Jones).
Family
Two generations up and the children. Gold lines join partners; grey lines run from parent to child; a dotted line marks a parent named in the text but not by descent.
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Stories
4 events in which Naphtali takes part, in order of the traditional chronology. Years are traditional (Jones).
- 1753 BCBirth of NaphtaliGen 30:7-8
- 1727 BCJoseph sold to EgyptGen 37:3-36
- 1707 BC7 years of famineGen 41:54–43:34
- 1705 BCJoseph's brothers return to EgyptGen 43:1–45:28
Places
Places named in the same verses as Naphtali, with the number of verses they share; a larger marker means more. Locations follow OpenBible.info, which grades each identification.
- possible location: Beth-anath1
- possible location: Beth-shemesh1
- likely location: Tyre1
Timeline
The strip runs from Creation to AD 100; the shaded part, 1778–1663 BC, is drawn below at a larger scale around these mentions, with 5 contemporaries. Years are traditional (Jones), shown as recorded, not as settled fact.
Mentions
Begat counts Naphtali in 10 tagged verses across 5 books.
Select a book to read its verses.
Later verses tagged with Naphtali are about the tribe of Naphtali, not the man: 39 verses, counted separately.
The name in each translation
| Text | Occurrences of each name |
|---|---|
| BSB | Naphtali 51Nephthalim 0 |
| KJV | Naphtali 50Nephthalim 2 |
| ASV | Naphtali 53Nephthalim 0 |
Whole-word, case-sensitive count of the name string (regex \bName\b, so possessives like "Abraham's" count) across the whole Bible text of each translation; this counts the string, not the person, so other people who share the name are included and pronoun references are not. How Begat counts
Every verse
All 10 tagged verses, by book, in canonical order. The Berean Standard Bible is shown; switch to the King James or American Standard Version.
Genesis4 verses
- 30:8
Then Rachel said, “In my great struggles, I have wrestled with my sister and won.” So she named him Naphtali.
- 35:25
The sons of Rachel’s maidservant Bilhah were Dan and Naphtali.
- 46:24
The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
- 49:21
Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.
Exodus1 verse
- 1:4
Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.
Judges2 verses
- 1:33
Naphtali failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath. So the Naphtalites also lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, but the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath served them as forced laborers.
- 5:18
Zebulun was a people who risked their lives; Naphtali, too, on the heights of the battlefield.
1 Kings1 verse
- 7:14
He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a craftsman in bronze. Huram had great skill, understanding, and knowledge for every kind of bronze work. So he came to King Solomon and carried out all his work.
Easton’s Bible Dictionary
The full entry, public domain, as printed in 1897.
My wrestling, the fifth son of Jacob. His mother was Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid (Gen. 30:8). When Jacob went down into Egypt, Naphtali had four sons (Gen. 46:24). Little is known of him as an individual.