1 Chronicles 7:13 preserves the register of Naphtali in a single verse, naming Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shallum, the sons of Bilhah.
One single verse carries an entire tribe: the sons of Naphtali were Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shallum, the sons of Bilhah (v 13). The four names match the four sons who went down to Egypt--Genesis 46:24 spells them Jahzeel and Shillem--and the four clans counted in the wilderness, where Naphtali's census reached 45,400 (Numbers 26:48-50). The closing phrase, the sons of Bilhah, ties the tribe to its grandmother: Bilhah was Rachel's maid, and Rachel named the boy Naphtali for her "wrestlings" with her sister (Genesis 30:7-8). These four men are Bilhah's grandsons, and the register honors her by name--one of several women this chapter pauses to remember (1 Chronicles 7:15-18, 24, 30-32).
The brevity of Naphtali's line here tells a story. The chronicler wrote what his records held, and for Naphtali the surviving file was one line deep--a tribe of the far north, its archives perhaps scattered when Assyria carried the northern tribes away (2 Kings 15:29 records Naphtali's captivity first of all). One line here sufficed. Naphtali's place in Israel rested on descent from Jacob, and this verse certifies it. The tribe gets several moments in the sun in Scripture: Barak, the general who broke Canaan's iron chariots, came from Kedesh in Naphtali (Judges 4:6), Jacob blessed the tribe as "a doe let loose" who "gives beautiful words" (Genesis 49:21), and Moses called Naphtali "satisfied with favor, and full of the blessing of the LORD" (Deuteronomy 33:23). Isaiah promised that this same northern land, alongside Zebulun, would be first to see the great light (Isaiah 9:1-2). This promise concerning Naphtali would be fulfilled in the time of Jesus, as Matthew records,
"and leaving Nazareth, [Jesus] came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
'The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles--
'The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light, And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, Upon them a Light dawned'" (Matthew 4:13-16).
A tribe registered in one verse still carried the promises of God. While the tribes of Judah, Levi, or Joseph's sons often take prominence in the narrative, verses like 1 Chronicles 7:13 bring to remembrance the less-frequently mentioned tribes that also played a part in Israel's rich history.
1 Chronicles 7:13
Sons of Naphtali
13 The sons of Naphtali were Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shallum, the sons of Bilhah.
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1 Chronicles 7:13 meaning
One single verse carries an entire tribe: the sons of Naphtali were Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shallum, the sons of Bilhah (v 13). The four names match the four sons who went down to Egypt--Genesis 46:24 spells them Jahzeel and Shillem--and the four clans counted in the wilderness, where Naphtali's census reached 45,400 (Numbers 26:48-50). The closing phrase, the sons of Bilhah, ties the tribe to its grandmother: Bilhah was Rachel's maid, and Rachel named the boy Naphtali for her "wrestlings" with her sister (Genesis 30:7-8). These four men are Bilhah's grandsons, and the register honors her by name--one of several women this chapter pauses to remember (1 Chronicles 7:15-18, 24, 30-32).
The brevity of Naphtali's line here tells a story. The chronicler wrote what his records held, and for Naphtali the surviving file was one line deep--a tribe of the far north, its archives perhaps scattered when Assyria carried the northern tribes away (2 Kings 15:29 records Naphtali's captivity first of all). One line here sufficed. Naphtali's place in Israel rested on descent from Jacob, and this verse certifies it. The tribe gets several moments in the sun in Scripture: Barak, the general who broke Canaan's iron chariots, came from Kedesh in Naphtali (Judges 4:6), Jacob blessed the tribe as "a doe let loose" who "gives beautiful words" (Genesis 49:21), and Moses called Naphtali "satisfied with favor, and full of the blessing of the LORD" (Deuteronomy 33:23). Isaiah promised that this same northern land, alongside Zebulun, would be first to see the great light (Isaiah 9:1-2). This promise concerning Naphtali would be fulfilled in the time of Jesus, as Matthew records,
"and leaving Nazareth, [Jesus] came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
'The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles--
'The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light,
And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death,
Upon them a Light dawned'"
(Matthew 4:13-16).
A tribe registered in one verse still carried the promises of God. While the tribes of Judah, Levi, or Joseph's sons often take prominence in the narrative, verses like 1 Chronicles 7:13 bring to remembrance the less-frequently mentioned tribes that also played a part in Israel's rich history.