Kejadian 49:21

49:21 Naphtali is a free running doe, ¹ 

he speaks delightful words. ² 

Kejadian 49:2

49:2 “Assemble and listen, you sons of Jacob;

listen to Israel, your father.

1 Samuel 15:2-6

15:2 Here is what the Lord of hosts says: ‘I carefully observed how the Amalekites opposed ³  Israel along the way when Israel ⁴  came up from Egypt. 15:3 So go now and strike down the Amalekites. Destroy everything that they have. Don’t spare ⁵  them. Put them to death – man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey alike.’”

15:4 So Saul assembled ⁶  the army ⁷  and mustered them at Telaim. There were 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah. 15:5 Saul proceeded to the city ⁸  of Amalek, where he set an ambush ⁹  in the wadi. ¹⁰  15:6 Saul said to the Kenites, “Go on and leave! Go down from among the Amalekites! Otherwise I will sweep you away ¹¹  with them! After all, you were kind to all the Israelites when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites withdrew from among the Amalekites.

¹ tn Heb “a doe set free.”

² tn Heb “the one who gives words of beauty.” The deer imagery probably does not continue into this line; Naphtali is the likely antecedent of the substantival participle, which is masculine, not feminine, in form. If the animal imagery is retained from the preceding line, the image of a talking deer is preposterous. For this reason some read the second line “the one who bears beautiful fawns,” interpreting אִמְרֵי (’imre) as a reference to young animals, not words (see HALOT 67 s.v. *אִמֵּר).

sn Almost every word in the verse is difficult. Some take the imagery to mean that Naphtali will be swift and agile (like a doe), and be used to take good messages (reading “words of beauty”). Others argue that the tribe was free-spirited (free running), but then settled down with young children.

³ tn Heb “what Amalek did to Israel, how he placed against him.”

⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Or perhaps “don’t take pity on” (cf. CEV).

⁶ tn Heb “caused the people to hear.”

⁷ tn Heb “people.”

⁸ tc The LXX has the plural here, “cities.”

⁹ tc The translation follows the LXX and Vulgate which assume a reading וַיָּאָרֶב (vayya’arev, “and he set an ambush,” from the root ארב [’rv] with quiescence of alef) rather than the MT, which has וַיָּרֶב (vayyareb, “and he contended,” from the root ריב [ryv]).

¹⁰ tn That is, “the dry stream bed.”

¹¹ tc The translation follows the Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate which assume a reading אֶסִפְךָ (’esfÿka, “I sweep you away,” from the root ספה [sfh]) rather than the MT אֹסִפְךָ (’osifÿka, “I am gathering you,” from the root אסף[’sf]).