Genesis 30:8

8 Rachel named him Naphtali, for she said, “I have struggled hard with my sister, and I’m winning!”

Genesis 30:8 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 30:8

And Rachel said, with great wrestlings have I wrestled with my
sister
Or, "with the wrestlings of God" ^F1, wrestling and striving in prayer with God; being vehement and importunate in her petitions to him, that she might have children as well as her sister: some render it, "I used the craftinesses of God", or "great craftiness with my sisters" ^F2; by giving her maid Bilhah to her husband, and having children by her: and I have prevailed;
as she strove in her desires and prayers to have another child before her sister had; in that she prevailed, or she was succeeded in her desires, she had children as she wished to have: and she called his name Naphtali;
which signifies "my wrestling", being a child she had been striving and wrestling for: these two sons of Bilhah were born, as say the Jews, Dan on the twenty ninth day of Elul or August, and lived one hundred and twenty seven years; Naphtali on the fifth of Tisri or September, and lived one hundred and thirty three years.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 (Myhla ylwtpn) "luctationibus Dei", Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius, Cartwright.
F2 "Calliditatibus Dei, Oleaster, astutiis Dei", Schmidt.

Genesis 30:8 In-Context

6 Rachel named him Dan, for she said, “God has vindicated me! He has heard my request and given me a son.”

7 Then Bilhah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son.

8 Rachel named him Naphtali, for she said, “I have struggled hard with my sister, and I’m winning!”

9 Meanwhile, Leah realized that she wasn’t getting pregnant anymore, so she took her servant, Zilpah, and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

10 Soon Zilpah presented him with a son.

Footnotes

• [a]. Naphtali means “my struggle.”