Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.
Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words, х 'ayaalaah (H355) shªluchaah (H7971)] - a hind stretched out; i:e., slender in form: х hanoteen (H5414) 'imreey (H561) shaaper (H8233)] giving forth words of grace - i:e., pleasant, persuasive; probably to be referred to some poetic or oratorical talent of this tribe, otherwise unknown (Gesenius). [The Sepuagint has: Nefthali stelechos aneimenon, epididous en too genneemati kallos-Naphtali is a spreading terebinth (a stately stalk), producing beautiful branches (exhibiting beauty in its produce.)] The image is preserved in its uniformity by this version, which has obtained the suffrages of Onkelos, Bochart, Houbigant, Dathe, Michaelis. [But it requires the reading of the text to be not 'ayaalaah (H355), hind, but 'eeyl (H352), terebinth, for which there is no authority of ancient MSS. or versions.] It has appeared to others, who accept 'hind' as the proper reading, that in the King James Version there is a confusion of ideas, as it represents the hind not only speaking, but speaking goodly words; and to avoid such an incongruity, Taylor (Calmet's 'Fragments,' vol. 4:, p. 620) proposes the following translation:
`Naphtali is a deer roaming at liberty, He shooteth forth noble branches (majestic antlers).'
That is, as he explains, 'Naphtali shall inhabit a country so rich, so fertile, so quiet, so unmolested, that, after having fed to the full on the most nutritious pasturage, he shall shoot out branches, i:e., antlers, etc., of the most majestic magnitude-for these, according to Buffon, are luxuriant in proportion to the plentiful and quiet character of the country the stag inhabits.
Thus, the patriarch denoted the happy lot of Naphtali, not directly, but indirectly, and by figurative description of its effects.' The King James Version, however, seems preferable to both of these, as it corresponds with the facts of the sacred history. Naphtali was justly compared to a hind, as Barak, an eminent man of this tribe, betrayed the timidity of a hind by refusing to march against the Canaanites, unless accompanied by Deborah, the prophetess; and he afterward appeared "a hind let loose," by imitating the swiftness of a hind in pursuing the enemy (Judges 4:1-24) - quickness in running being a prime qualification of ancient warriors (2 Samuel 2:18; 1 Chronicles 12:8). This talent for "giving goodly words" was evinced by the noble thanksgiving ode composed along with Deborah (see the note at Deuteronomy 33:23).