Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 19:39
This [is] the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali according to their families, the cities and their villages.
39. This is the inheritance ] The territory appropriated to Naphtali was thus enclosed on three sides by that of other tribes. ( a) On the west was Asher, ( b) on the south Zebulun, ( c) and on the east Manasseh 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 ” (Gen 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 (Deu 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 (Gen 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 (Jdg 4:6). See above, Jos 19:37. But after this exploit, Naphtali, like Asher, resigned itself to intercourse with the heathen, “and learned their works” (Psa 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’ (Isa 9:1-2; Mat 4:15-16).” Stanley’s Lectures, i. 231.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali,…. Which Josephus o thus describes;
“the country to the east, as far as Damascus the city, and upper Galilee, the Naphtalites took, unto Mount Lebanon, and the fountains of Jordan, which flow out of the mount, reaching the northern border of the city Arce:”
according to their families; which was divided among them, according to the number of their families:
the cities and their villages; before enumerated.
o Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 22.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
‘ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali, according to their families, the cities and their villages.’
Again we have the official seal on the boundaries and cities of a tribe.