Joshua 19:39

This is the inheritance The territory appropriated to Naphtali was thus enclosed on three sides by that of other tribes. (a) On the westwas Asher, (b) on the southZebulun, (c) and on the eastManasseh beyond the Jordan. Cut off from the great plain of Esdraelon by the mass of the mountains of Nazareth, it had communication on the east with the fertile district of the Sea of Galilee, and the splendidly watered country of the springs of the Jordan. The dying Jacob had compared Naphtali to a "spreading terebinth" (Genesis 49:21, mistranslated "a hind let loose") of the uplands of Lebanon, shooting forth goodly boughs; and the great Lawgiver had described him as satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the Lord(Deuteronomy 33:23), but the grand opportunities so graciously given were not turned to the best account. The capabilities of its plains, of the thoroughfare and traffic of the Sea of Galilee (Genesis 49:13), were not developed by the tribe. One hero and one only was produced by it, Barak of Kedesh-Naphtali, who dwelt in the mountain district (Judges 4:6). See above, Joshua 19:37. But after this exploit, Naphtali, like Asher, resigned itself to intercourse with the heathen, "and learned their works" (Psalms 106:35). See Smith's Dict. of the Bible; Ritter's Geog. of Palestine, iv. p. 338; Stanley's Sinai and Palestine, p. 363. "With the exception of the transient splendour of the days of Barak and of Gideon, the four northern tribes hardly affect the general fortunes of the nation. It is not till the Jewish is on the point of breaking into the Christian Church that these northern tribes acquire a new interest. -Galilee" then, by reason of its previous isolation, springs into overwhelming importance. -The land of Zebulun, the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which sat in darkness saw great light, and to those who sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up" (Isaiah 9:1-2; Matthew 4:15-16)." Stanley's Lectures, i. 231.