Week 5    Day 3

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The Inheritance of Naphtali

Joshua 19:32-39

32 To the sons of Naphtali came out the sixth lot, to the sons of Naphtali according to their families.

33 And their border was from Heleph, from the oak that was in Zaanannim and Adami, Nekeb, and Jabneel, to Lakum; and the outgoings thereof were at Jordan.

34 And the border turned back toward the sea to Aznoth-tabor, and went out from thence toward Hukok, and came upon Zebulun from the south; and it came upon Asher from the sea, and upon Judah at the Jordan toward the rising of the sun.

35 And the fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, and Hammath, Rakkath and Chinnereth,

36 and Adamah, and Ramah, and Hazor,

37 and Kedesh, and Edrei, and En-hazor,

38 and Iron, and Migdal-el, Chorem, and Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh: nineteen cities and their villages.

39 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali according to their families, the cities and their villages.

The Meaning of “Naphtali” in the Word

AC 3928. And she called his name Naphtali. That this signifies its quality, namely, the quality of the temptation in which there is victory... The quality itself is that which is signified by “Naphtali,” for he was named “Naphtali” from “wrestling.” Hence also by Naphtali is represented this second general truth of the church, for temptation is the means of the conjunction of the internal man with the external, because they are at variance with each other, but are reduced to agreement and correspondence by means of temptations.

AE 439. Of the tribe Naphtali twelve thousand sealed, signifies regeneration and temptation.... As temptations occur for the sake of regeneration, regeneration too is signified by “Naphtali.”

AE 439.2. That “Naphtali” signifies temptation and the state after it, and thence regeneration, is further evident from the following passages. From the blessing he received from his father Israel:

Naphtali is a hind let loose, giving sayings of elegance (Gen. 49:21).

“Naphtali” here signifies the state after temptation. This state is full of joy from affection, that the spiritual and the natural, and good and truth, have been conjoined, for these are conjoined by temptations. “A hind [or doe] let loose” signifies the freedom of the natural affection; “giving sayings of elegance,” signifies gladness of mind.

The City Capernaum on the border of Naphtali and Zebulon

AE 653:9-10. That those who are taught by the Lord respecting the truths and goods of the church, and yet reject and deny them, do worse than those in Sodom, is evident from the Lord’s words respecting Capernaum, in Matthew:

Thou Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down unto hell; for if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in thee, it would have remained until this day; I say unto thee that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee (Matt. 11:23, 24).

For the Lord after He left Nazareth abode in Capernaum (Matt. 4:13) and did miracles there (Matt. 8:5-14; John 4:46 to the end).

Similar things were said by the Lord about the cities in which the disciples preached His coming or the Gospel and were not received...

For no one rejects the holy things of the church and denies the Divine of the Lord more interiorly than those do who are in the love of self; those who are in the love of the world and in the evils therefrom may reject the holy things of the church, but not so interiorly, that is, from the confirmation of the heart.

AE 447.5. “Zebulun and Naphtali” signify the conjunction of truth and good through combat against falsities and evils, and consequent reformation. In Matthew:

Jesus, leaving Nazareth, came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea [of Galilee], in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the nations; the people sitting in darkness saw a great light; and to those sitting in the region and shadow of death, to them did light spring up. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent ye, for the kingdom of the heavens has come near (4:13-17; Isa. 9:1, 2).

AE 447.6. “Zebulun and Naphtali” signify in the highest sense the union of the Divine Itself and the Lord’s Divine Human by means of temptations admitted into Himself, and victories gained by His own power....

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