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Your portion of the weekly portion - and this week we will discuss "Miketz". our Biblical Hebrew newsletter is happy to present you the Jewish weekly portion of the week, which is read during prayer services on the Sabbath.
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Dear friends,
As part of our discussion of the sons of Jacob, we will now continue chronologically, according to the time of birth of the different sons. Some ways of listing the tribes have a different order, because they keep Leah's sons together as one group, despite a big gap between Judah and Issachar, a time during which Rachel and Leah's concubine each bore two sons.
Rachel, seeing that she was barren while Leah had born four sons (Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah), gave her maid, Bilhah, to Jacob, so that she would have children through her. Today we will discuss the sons of Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali.
Dan
Birth
Dan's birth is described in Genesis 30:4-6. He is the first of two sons that Bilhah gave birth to.
Naming
Although Bilhah is Dan's biological mother, he is considered Rachel's son, because Bilhah was given to Jacob as a means of bearing children for Rachel. Therefore, Rachel
| considers him her son, and it is Rachel who names him Dan, from the root |
 |
meaning judgment, saying "God has judged me and heard my voice" (Genesis 30:6).
Personal History
In the Book of Genesis we hear nothing of Dan, the forefather of the tribe of Dan. He is obviously one of the brothers and had some part in the selling of Joseph as well as in the brothers' descent to Egypt, but we have no details as to what role he played in these events.
Future as described in the blessings of Jacob and Moses
In the blessing of Jacob (Genesis 49:16-17), Dan is described in two manners: first he is blessed that he shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Then, we are told that he shall be "a serpent in the way... that bites the horse's heels so that his rider falls backward". This description is obviously of someone sly, able to bring down his enemies by surprise, but since we do not know who the enemy is, it is difficult to understand the precise meaning.
In the blessing of Moses (Deuteronomy 33:22), Dan is blessed as a lion cub leaping from the Bashan (a geographical area).
The Tribe in Biblical History
The most we hear about the Tribe of Dan is in the Book of Judges. There, we hear about them on two occasions.
Perhaps the most famous figure from the tribe is the judge Samson, of whom we hear in Judges 13-16; A Hermit from birth that never cut his hair, he has unprecedented strength, which assisted him in his battles against the philistines. However, Samson has a weakness for women, and ultimately, a philistine harlot manages to uncover the secret of his strength.
After his hair is cut, Samson is taken to Gaza and put in jail, and the philistines gouge out both of his eyes. During a celebration, the philistines bring the humiliated Samson in front of them in order to turn him into a laughing stock. Samson then asks God to give him back his strength and brings down the entire building, killing in his death more philistines than during his lifetime of fighting.
The second story in the Book of Judges about the Tribe of Dan is in Judges 18. Here, we hear of how the Danites went looking for a new inheritance, because the land allotted to them originally has not been conquered. They took over the peaceful city of Laish and set up a Temple there, the same Temple we hear of later in Israelite history when Jeroboam places a golden calf in it.
Naphtali
Birth
Naphtali's birth is described in Genesis 30:7-8. He is the second of Bilhah's sons.
Naming
Naphtali too is considered Rachel's son and named by her. Literally, the name is
| connected to the root |
 |
, meaning wrestling, which is found only here in the Bible. |
Rachel names him so because of her many struggles with her sister, Leah, declaring that she prevailed.
Personal History
Like Dan, we hear nothing of Naphtali in the Book of Genesis. He is obviously one of the brothers and had some part in the selling of Joseph as well as in the brothers' descent to Egypt, but we have no details as to what role he played in these events.
Future as described in the blessings of Jacob and Moses
In the Blessing of Jacob, Naphtali is described as "a hind let loose, giving good words". This is obviously a positive description of the tribe (Genesis 49:21).
The description of Naphtali in the blessing of Moses is also very complementary, as full of the blessing of God (Deuteronomy 33:23).
The Tribe in Biblical History
In the times of the Judges, we hear that Naphtali (and Zebulun) fought with Deborah and Barak against the Canaanites (Judges 5:18). Incidentally, Barak was from the tribe of Naphtali but other than that, and a few other odd figures who happen to be members of the tribe, we do not learn much about Naphtali in biblical history. The land of Naphtali was conquered by the Assyrian king Tiglathpileser and the inhabitants were exiled to Assyria (2 Kings 15:29).
Have a great week!
The Biblical Hebrew Online Team.
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