Genesis 30:8

8 Then Rachel said, “I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.” So she named him Naphtali.[a]

Genesis 30:8 in Other Translations

KJV
8 And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.
ESV
8 Then Rachel said, "With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed." So she called his name Naphtali.
NLT
8 Rachel named him Naphtali, for she said, “I have struggled hard with my sister, and I’m winning!”
MSG
8 Rachel said, "I've been in an all-out fight with my sister - and I've won." So she named him Naphtali (Fight).
CSB
8 Rachel said, "In [my] wrestlings with God, I have wrestled with my sister and won," and she named him Naphtali.

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.


FOOTNOTES:

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

Genesis 30:8 In-Context

6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; he has listened to my plea and given me a son.” Because of this she named him Dan.
7 Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.
8 Then Rachel said, “I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.” So she named him Naphtali.
9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
10 Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Genesis 32:28; Hosea 12:3-4
  • 2. Genesis 35:25; Genesis 46:24; Genesis 49:21; Numbers 1:42; Numbers 26:48; Deuteronomy 33:23; Judges 4:6; Judges 5:18; 1 Chronicles 7:13

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. "Naphtali" means "my struggle."
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