Syria,
Persia,
Armenia,
and
other
parts
of
Asia.
By
tlie
Greelts
tliis
goddess
was
identified
sometimes
with
Artemis,
sometimes
with
Aphrodite.
She
seems
to
have
represented
the
productive
powers
of
nature.
In
2
Mac
I'o-"
we
have
a
legendary
account
of
the
death
of
Antiochus
Epiphanes,
who
is
said
to
have
attempted
to
plunder
a
temple
of
Nansea
in
Persia,
and
to
have
been
treacherously
killed
In
the
temple
by
the
priests.
NAOMI.—
The
wife
of
Elimelech
the
Ephrathite,
of
Beth-lehem-judah,
who
was
driven
by
famine
into
the
land
of
Moab.
After
the
death
of
her
husband
and
her
two
sons,
she
returned,
accompanied
by
Ruth,
to
her
own
land.
Her
return
was
a
matter
of
surprise
to
the
people
of
Bethlehem,
and
they
said,
'Is
this
Naomi?'
Her
answer
included
a
double
play
of
words
on
her
own
name,
'Call
me
not
Naomi
('pleasant'),
call
me
Mara
('bitter'):
for
the
Almighty
hath
dealt
very
bitterly
with
me
.
,
.
why
call
ye
me
Naomi,
seeing
the
Lord
hath
testified
i'anOh)
against
me?'
(Ru
l^-").
NAPHISH.—
A
son
of
Ishmael
(Gn
25"
=
1
Ch
1").
In
all
probability
it
is
his
descendants
who
are
men-tioned
in
Ezr
25°
as
'the
children
of
Nephisim'
(RV)
or
Nephusim
(AV
and
RVm).
In
the
parallel
passage
(Neh7''')thereadingisNephu5hesim(RV)orNephishesim
(AV
and
RVm).
The
reading
in
1
Es
S^'
is
Nephisi.
NAPHISI
(1
Es
5^1)
^Nephisim,
Ezr
2^°;
Kephushesim,
Neh
7«.
NAFHTALI.
—
The
second
son
of
Bilhah,
Rachel's
handmaid,
and
the
sixth
son
of
Jacob
(Gn
30"-
[J]).
The
tradition
connects
the
story
in
a
vague
way
with
the
word
'twist,
wrestle':
NaphtuU
'elShlm
niphtalti
—
Wrestlings
of
God
(or
mighty
wrestlings)—'!
have
wrestled
with
my
sister
and
I
have
prevailed,'
Rachel
exclaimed
when
NaphtaU
was
born,
'and
she
called
his
name
Naphtall.'
The
information
which
we
have
of
Naphtall
is
very
meagre.
P
ascribes
to
him
four
sons
when
Jacob
and
his
family
entered
Egypt
(Gn
462').
These
four
have
developed
into
'famiUes'
at
the
time
of
the
Exodus,
and
their
number
is
given
as
53,400
in
the
Sinai
census
(Nu
1'").
At
Moab,
however,
they
had
decreased
to
45,000
(26'8).
None
of
these
clan-names
given
here,
except
Guni,
appears
again
outside
of
the
genealogy
repeated
in
1
Ch
7".
In
the
march
through
the
desert
NaphtaU
formed
with
Dan
and
Asher
the
'Camp
of
Dan,'
which
constituted
a
total
of
157,000
men
of
war.
While
the
genealogical
lists
cannot
be
relied
on,
there
is
no
apparent
reason
for
linking
together
Dan
and
NaphtaU.
But
that
they
are
both
traced
to
Bilhah
indicates
that
they
were
tribes
of
minor
importance,
inferior
in
strength,
and
of
less
consequence
in
the
national
development
at
the
time
when
these
relation-ships
were
created,
than
the
tribes
which
sprang
from
Rachel.
NaphtaU
was
the
sixth
in
order
to
receive
its
lot
(Jos
1932-'9).
It
is
somewhat
more
definitely
defined
than
the
others,
though
few
of
the
places
mentioned
can
be
identified.
No
fewer
than
nineteen
cities
are
said
to
Ue
vrithin
its
territory,
the
most
of
which
are
not
found
again
in
the
OT,
doubtless
because
the
history
of
Israel
was
wrought
out
mainly
in
the
regions
to
the
south.
The
territory
reached
on
the
north
almost
to
the
Lebanon.
Southward
It
extended
along
the
Jordan
until
it
reached
the
point
below
the
Sea
of
Galilee
where
the
Wady
el-Bireh
joins
the
Jordan.
The
greater
part
lay
to
the
north-west
of
the
Sea,
and
in
this
direction
(N.
and
W.)
its
boundaries
appear
to
have
been
shifting.
'Ancient
and
modern
writers'
(writes
Driver,
Deut.
413)
'vie
with
one
another
in
praising
the
soil
and
climate
of
the
territory
owned
by
NaphtaU:
it
was
abundantly
irrigated;
and
its
productions
rich
and
varied.
Lower
GaUlee
was,
however,
yet
more
fertile
and
beautiful
than
Upper
Galilee.
The
vegetation
in
the
neighbourhood
of
the
lake
is
semi-tropical.'
Modern
writers
Join
with
Josephus
in
praising
it,
and
Neubauer
(Oeog.
du
Talm.
p.
180)
quotes
a
saying
from
the
Talmud:
'
It
is
easier
to
raise
a
legion
of
oUves
in
GaUlee
than
to
bring
up
a
child
in
Palestine.'
No
wonder
.that
Naphtali
was
'Uke
a
hind
let
loose'
(Gn
492',
if
this
be
the
correct
translation;
see
the
Comm.).
Besides
these
advantages,
it
was
fortunate
in
location
in
times
of
peace.
Roads
ran
in
every
direction,
connecting
it
with
the
outer
world.
The
heroism
and
warUke
daring
of
the
tribe
is
sung
in
Jg
5.
In
that
decisive
struggle
with
the
Canaanites
the
tribe
wrote
its
name
high
on
the
roll
of
IsraeUtish
fame.
But
this
was
in
the
days
of
its
pristine
vigour.
At
a
later
period
it
performed
nothing
worthy
of
record.
The
Blessings
of
Jacob
(Gn
49^)
and
of
Moses
(Dt
ZZ",
'Satisfied
with
favour,
and
full
with
the
blessing
of
Jahweh')
dwell
only
upon
its
productivity.
The
captain
to
whom
the
honour
of
leading
the
IsraeUtes
to
victory
over
the
hosts
of
Sisera
is
ascribed
in
the
prose
narrative,
Jg
4,
was
Barak
of
Kedesn-naphtaU.
This
is
probable
in
view
of
the
readiness
with
which
Naphtali
and
Zebulun
its
neighbour
responded
to
his
caU,
though
Jg
5'*
points
rather
to
a
connexion
with
Issachar.
According
to
1
K
7",
Hiram,
the
worker
in
metals,
etc.,
whom
Solomon
brought
from
Tyre
to
work
on
the
house
of
Jahweh,
was
the
son
of
a
widow
of
the
tribe
of
NaphtaU
[2
Ch
2",
it
is
true,
says
she
was
of
Dan.
The
shifting
of
boundaries
may
be
the
cause
of
the
divergence].
Few
names
of
prominence,
however,
from
members
of
this
tribe
appear
in
con-nexion
with
the
national
Ufe.
According
to
the
Chronicler
(1
Ch
12'')
37,000
warriors
with
1000
captains
went
to
the
support
of
David
at
Hebron.
Under
the
Syrian
king
Bir-idri
(Benhadad),
'aU
the
land
of
NaphtaU,'
together
with
certain
cities
of
Israel,
were
smitten
with
the
sword
(1
K
15^°).
When
the
Syrian
kingdom
teU
before
the
Assyrian
armies,
northern
Israel
was
exposed,
as
never
before,
to
the
relentless
legions
of
the
East;
and
'in
the
days
of
Pekah,
king
of
Israel,
came
Tiglath-pileser
[iii.
b.c.734],
king
of
Assyria,
and
took
Ijon,
and
Abel-beth-maacah,
and
Janoah,
and
Kedesh,
and
Haxor,
and
Gilead,
and
GaUlee,
and
aU
the
land
of
NaphtaU,
and
he
carried
them
captive
to
Assyria'
(2
K
15^').
See
also
Tribes.
James
A.
Craig.
NAPHTUHIM.
—
Fourth
son
of
Mizralm
(Gn
10",
1
Ch
1").
Many
suggestions
have
been
made
to
account
for
the
name,
which
does
not
appear
exactly
in
Egyptian
or
Assyrian
inscriptions,
but
in
Ashurbanipal's
Annals
(col.
!"■
°')
a
district
Nathu,
probably
in
Lower
Egypt,
occurs,
which
may
be
the
same.
An
Egyptian
n-idkw,
'the
marshes,'
used
in
contrast
to
Pathros,
may
be
intended;
but
the
discovery
of
Caphtor,
so
long
a
puzzle,
may
warn
us
to
wait
for
further
evidence.
C.
H.
W.
Johns.
NAPKIN
(soudarion).
—
The
cloth
in
which
the
un-profitable
servant
wrapped
the
money
of
his
lord
(Lk
192»);
used
to
bind
the
face
of
the
dead
(Jn
11"
20');
carried,
possibly
as
indicated
by
the
name
(Lat.
su-darium),
to
wipe
off
perspiration
(Ac
19'^).
The
Arabic
renders
mandU,
which
may
be
either
'towel,'
'napkin,'
'veil,'
or
'head-baud.'
See
also
Dress,
§§
6
(a),
8.
W.
EWING.
NARCISSUS.
—
St.
Paul
in
his
Epistle
to
the
Romans
(ch.
16")
salutes,
among
others,
'them
that
be
of
the
household
of
Narcissus
that
are
in
the
Lord.'
The
name
was
not
uncommon,
but
many
have
identified
the
person
mentioned
here
with
the
secretary
of
the
Emperor
Claudius,
who
was
put
to
death
by
Agrippina
in
the
first
year
of
Nero's
reign,
about
three
years
before
this
Epistle
was
written.
According
to
the
custom
of
those
times,
the
household
of
the
freedman
of
Claudius
would
pass
into
the
possession
of
Nero,
retaining
the
name
of
their
