Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid, gave birth to Naphtali after she had given birth to Dan: “And Bilhah, Rachel’s maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son. And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.” (Genesis 30:7-8)
The name Naphtali (Strong’s no. 5321) means “my wrestling”.
The Holy Scriptures do not specify the nationality of Naphtali’s wife, but the Book of Jasher does. (The Book of Jasher is not a part of the Holy Scriptures, but is referred to twice in the Holy Scriptures, in Joshua 10:13 and 2 Samuel 1:18.) Naphtali and Gad went to Haran, and they each took a wife from the family of Nahor, Abraham’s brother:
“Gad and Naphtali went to Haran and took from thence the daughters of Amuram the son of Uz, the son of Nahor, for wives.” (Book of Jasher 45:9)
Naphtali married the oldest of the daughters, Merimah, and Gad married the youngest.
Naphtali had four sons: “And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.” (Genesis 46:24)
Their names mean:
Jahzeel (Strong’s no. 3183): “God will allot”. The first part of the word means “to cut or split in two; to halve”.
Guni (Strong’s no. 1476): “protected”.
Jezer (Strong’s no. 3337): “a form; fig. conception (i.e. purpose); - frame, thing framed, imagination”.
Shillem (Strong’s no. 8006): “requital: - recompense”.
Symbol of the tribe of Naphtali: a Hind let loose
(From W.H. Bennett: Symbols of Our Celto-Saxon Heritage (1976), p. 27)
Jacob’s words of what should befall Naphtali in the last days were: “Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.” (Genesis 49:21)
Norway only became an independent nation in 1905. Iceland only gained complete independence in 1944. The Faroe Islands today have have their own parliament but are under the Crown of Denmark.
Norway shared fate with Denmark on 9 April, 1940, when both countries were attacked and occupied by Nazi Germany. Though the German occupation deeply scarred the Danes to the point that it is only in recent years that Danes have begun to fully accept German culture, the German occupation probably scarred the Norwegians considerably more.
Norway and Iceland are not members of the French-and-German-led European Union. When Denmark joined the predecessor to the EU in 1972, the Faroe Islands (and Greenland) stayed out. The Faroe Islands are to this day not a member of the EU.
The Naphtalite hinds of Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands want to be free. They want to be loose, to be themselves. They are “hinds let loose”.
The prophecy of Naphtali being a hind let loose is therefore a good indication of when the period in Bible terminology called “the last days” began, because Jacob’s words recorded in Genesis chap. 49 were not just a general description of the tribes, but specifically about what should befall them in “the last days”: “And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.” (Genesis 49:1)
The flags of Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands
The Norwegians, the Icelanders, and the Faroe Islanders are all entirely separate peoples. They each speak a Nordic language of their own, they each have their own flag with a cross and background in different colours, and all three peoples have historically and in many other ways been closely connected to Denmark.
Naphtali has characteristics of Manasseh, while Dan has characteristics of Ephraim.
This means that Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands can be compared to the Celtic parts of Britain, (Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, and the Isle of Man) and even to the USA, while Denmark can be compared to England.
The Norwegian Vikings raided and settled the Celtic parts of Britain, Scotland, and Ireland, while the Danish Vikings raided and settled England.
Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands are large in sizes, with relatively small populations, and a low population density. The same could be said of the Celtic parts of Britain.
Denmark, on the other hand, is small in size, with a relatively large population, and a much higher population density. The same is the case with England.
“Norway“ means “the north way”, referring to the ice-free northern sea route along Norway’s long coast. The Norwegian Vikings were adventurers, explorers, tradesmen, and pirates. And they sailed a lot. The Norwegian Vikings settled the Faroe Islands, the Shetlands, the Orkneys, Iceland, and Greenland. Leif Ericson (970-1020 AD) was the Norwegian who sailed to North America, which he reached in 1002 AD and called the country Vinland.
In 995 AD king Olav Trygvasson made Christianity the official religion in Norway. Norway had its heyday around 1200 when the Norwegian Crown comprised Norway, Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the Orkneys. In 1380 Norway entered a union with Denmark, and in 1397 Sweden was joined to the twin kingdom of Denmark-Norway in the Kalmar Union, though Sweden rebelled several times and seceded from the union in 1523. Norway was the weaker part in the twin kingdom of Denmark-Norway, which can be compared to the United Kingdom of the British Isles, with Norway being compared to Scotland, and Denmark to England. For a long time Norwegians referred to the years with Denmark as “the 400 years night”.
In the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark-Norway fought on France’s side against Britain, and lost. In 1814 the king of Denmark ceded Norway to the king of Sweden. The Norwegians tried to crown the Danish-Norwegian Crown Prince Christian as king of Norway, but the king of Sweden prevented it. In 1905 Norway achieved independence from Sweden, and crowned the Danish prince Carl as King Haakon VII. In 1940 Norway was occupied by Germany, and the Norwegian king and government fled to Britain. This was in contrast to Denmark, where the Danish king stayed in Denmark and publically urged young Danish men to volunteer to fight alongside the Germans on the Eastern Front, and where the Danish government cooperated with Nazi Germany until 1943.
Norway is a member of NATO, but not of the EU.
Norway has a Lutheran state church, of which 85% of the Norwegians are members. 4.5% are Catholics.
Oil has been Norway’s biggest export since there was found oil in the Norwegian part of the North Sea in 1969. Norway is today the third-largest oil exporting country in the world, after Saudi Arabia and Russia. Fishing has through many centuries been the backbone of Norway’s trade. Fishing is today the second largest export, after oil.
Norway is one the world’s largest shipping nations, with 1413 ships over 1000 GRT (Gross Register Tonnage). (Greece is the largest, with 3099 ships over 1000 GRT.)
In 2008 European geneticists made a “genetic map” of Europe. This showed that Norwegians genetically had most in common with Danes, then with North Germans, then with the Dutch, Irish, and British, and only then with Swedes.[i]
South Norway
Dr. Hans F.K. Günther (1891-1968) – the leading German race scientist who taught at three different universities during the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich – described the racial elements of Norway:
“Norway is predominantly Nordic, except for the districts inhabited by the Lapps, who are predominantly Inner Asiatic (?), with an East Baltic and Nordic admixture. There is sometimes in Norway, as also in Sweden, a dash of Inner Asiatic (?) blood in the non-Lappish population. There is something of the Alpine race in the islands of the west coast from Bergen to about Drontheim; Alpine, too, apparently, is a region between the Sogne Fjord and the Nord Fjord. But the largest region with an Alpine (and, as it would seem, slight East Baltic) admixture lies along the Norwegian south-west and south coast; it starts in the north near Haugesund, and runs through Stavanger, always along the coast, to Kristianssand in the east. Behind Stavanger, however, it runs back far into the mountains. The relatively purest Nordic population of Norway lies in Öster, Gudbrand, and Nume valleys, and also in the Telemark district, and in the Sete valley. The thickly wooded Tryssil district on the Swedish frontier has a predominantly East Baltic population; Ripley ascribes it to a certain ‘Mongolian’ look. But we have here predominantly East Baltic immigrants from Finland (Quanes).”
“The Sogne Fjord shows a characteristic population: dark men, meso- to brachycephalic on the average, of middling to low stature, and of a ‘southern’ liveliness in speech and movements; when serving in the army they are marked by a fiery spirit of attack at manoeuvres, but by a want of discipline. It might well be that in the Sogne Fjord, which is quite shut off, there has arisen through selection (from Mediterranean, Alpine, and Nordic elements?) what is almost an hereditary combination of characters; unless, indeed, we have here a racial element of unknown origin. Norway as a whole has, owing to its shut-off valleys, been able to preserve clear tribal distinctions even within its Nordic population. In a valley of this kind all the dwellers may often go back to a few families. In Tydalen (Drontheim district) the Crô-Magnon race even seems to be preserved.”[ii]
Dr. Günther has this last information from the military doctor Halfdan Bryn (1864-1933), a leading Norwegian anthropologist.
“Ingólfur [Arnarson] takes possession of Iceland” (1850), painting by Johan Peter Raadsig (public domain).
Iceland was first settled in 874 AD under the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfur Arnarson. Since then other Norsemen and their Irish slaves followed. Among the old Norsemen, Iceland was known as an inhospitable and barren land. Christianity was adopted in 1000 AD. In 1262 Iceland became a part of the kingdom of Norway, which itself in 1380 became a part of the kingdom of Denmark. Iceland gained home rule from Denmark in 1904, and sovereignty under the Crown of Denmark in 1918. When Denmark was occupied by Germany in 1940, Iceland was occupied by Britain. In 1941 the British troops were replaced by American troops after an agreement with the Icelandic home rule. In 1944 Iceland gained independence when it seceded from Denmark and became a republic.
Like Norway and the Faroe Islands, Iceland is a member of NATO, but not of the EU.
A genetic study of the Icelandic people has shown that the majority of their male ancestors are Nordic, while the majority of their female ancestors are Celtic.[iii]
Icelandic is a North Germanic language, which has changed less from the original Old Norse than Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish. The closest related language to Icelandic is Faroese. Icelandic is continually cleansed from English and other foreign words. Icelandic is the only Nordic language to retain the Runic letter Þ, which is pronounced th as in Thor and thorn.
86% of the Icelanders are members of Lutheran churches. Iceland was the first Nordic country where the state officially recognized a denomination for the pagan religion of the old North. This denomination is also the largest non-Christian denomination in Iceland.
Iceland has a rich literary heritage. The Icelandic sagas are full of blood feuds, and have a certain similarity with the historical books of the Old Testament. Snorre Sturlasson (1178-1241) was an Icelandic chieftain and historian who wrote Heimskringla. In the first book in Heimskringla, Snorre describes that the Norsemen trekked to the North from beyond the Caucasus Mountains, being led by a chieftain-priest called Odin, and that the Norsemen originally lived in “Turkland” and in “Asia” (Asia Minor) beyond the Caucasus Mountains.
The Faroe Islands (Føroyar) literally means “Sheep Islands” in Faroese. The Faroese people (føroyingar) literally mean the “sheep island people”. Faroese literally means “the sheep island language”.
Starting in the early 6th century, there lived some Irish hermits on the Faroe Islands, but app. 650 AD they were replaced by Norwegian Vikings coming from the Norwegian settlements on the Shetlands and the Orkneys, and Norse-Gaels from the Irish Sea and the western isles of Scotland. Since then followed more settlers from Norway. In the early 11th century one Sigmund, who had fled from the Faroe Islands to Norway and returned, introduced Christianity and laid the Faroe Islands under the Crown of Norway.
In 1380 the Faroe Islands, along with Norway itself, came under the Crown of Denmark. When Norway was ceded to Sweden in 1814, the Faroe Islands stayed under Denmark.
The Faroese national awakening in 1888 concentrated on Faroese language and culture, and from 1906 also on politics. On 9 April, 1940, Denmark and Norway were occupied by Germany, and as a counter-move the Faroe Islands were occupied on 12 April by British forces. In 1948 the Faroe Islands became an autonomous province under the Crown of Denmark. When Denmark in 1972 joined the forerunner to the European Union, the Faroe Islands stayed out, and are today not a member of the EU.
Recent DNA studies of the Faroese have shown that 87% of their male ancestors are Scandinavian, and 84% of their female ancestors are Scottish or Irish.[iv]
Fishing is the main employment on the Faroe Islands. The summer is too cold to grow crops. But there are good pastures on the Faroe Islands, and since the warm Gulf Stream gives a mild winter, the sheep – the most important domestic animal - can go outside all year around. A considerable part of the younger Faroese live in Denmark, where there are better education and employment possibilities.
84% of the Faroese are members of the Faroese Lutheran state church. 10% are members of the Open Brethren Community, an offspring of the Plymouth Brethren. Contrary to Iceland, Norway, and Denmark, there is no official denomination for the old Norse pagans on the Faroe Islands.
The Faroese language is one of the smallest North Germanic languages, spoken by 48,000 people on the Faroe Islands and by the 20,000-30,000 Faroese who live abroad (primarily in Denmark). Written Faroese is quite similar to Icelandic and Old Norse, while spoken Faroese is closer to West Norwegian dialects. In Faroese schools, Danish is the second language.
The currency on the Faroe Islands is the Faroese króna, which is issued by the Danish National Bank. It is not an independent currency, but a version of the Danish krone.
The Faroe Islands have their own small parliament, Løgtingið with 33 seats, but are under the Crown of Denmark. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark is the monarch. In the Danish parliament in Copenhagen, two of the 179 seats are elected on the Faroe Islands (and two seats are elected on Greenland).
Greenland was settled by Norwegian Vikings, and is today an autonomous province under the Crown of Denmark. The Greenlanders are a mixed race of Norsemen (primarily Danes) and Eskimos. Greenland is therefore not a part of the tribes of Israel.
The EU is led by the children of Leah, especially Germany and France. The children of Rachel, such as Britain and Denmark, have always been on the fringes of the EU.
The three Naphtalite peoples of Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands are not members of the EU, unlike the other Israelite peoples of Europe. This is because Naphtali was given his name when Rachel had wrestled with Leah and prevailed over her: “And Bilhah, Rachel’s maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son. And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.” (Genesis 30:7-8)
Therefore the Naphtalite peoples of Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands are not members of the EU, but they are members of NATO, which is led by the USA and the UK, who are the children of Rachel.
Before the tribes of Israel entered Canaan to possess it, Moses blessed the tribe of Naphtali with the words: “Of Naphtali he said: Naphtali is satisfied with grace and full of the blessing of the LORD, the Sea and the sea route is in his possession.” (Deuteronomy 33:23, translated by the author from the Danish 1931 authorized translation of the Old Testament)[v]
This is fulfilled in Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands being peoples living of fishing, oil from the sea, and other goods from the sea, and being peoples who sail much.
Symbol of the Standard of the Camp of Dan: an Eagle. Naphtali was a part of the Standard of the Camp of Dan, which comprised the tribes of Dan, Naphtali, and Asher. (From W.H. Bennett: Symbols of Our Celto-Saxon Heritage (1976), p. 77)
Naphtali and Dan were the children of Bilhah. In the Holy Scriptures Bilhah is both called Jacob’s wife and his concubine. The Hebrew word which is translated “concubine” in the Authorized King James Version is from the Hebrew word “pîlegesh” (Strong’s no. 6370) meaning “concubine, paramour”.
When the 12 tribes are listed in the Holy Scriptures, Naphtali is usually mentioned in connection with the other tribes of the sons of the concubines, Dan, Asher, and Gad.
During the wandering in the wilderness, Naphtali was under the Standard of the Camp of Dan, along with Dan and Asher (Numbers 2:29-31).
When the 12 tribes entered Canaan to possess it, Naphtali was, like the other tribes of the sons of the concubines, one of the six tribes to stand on mount Ebal to pronounce curses over Israel (Deuteronomy 27:11-13).
In the land of Canaan, the territory of the tribe of Naphtali was large in size. It was far larger than the territory of the tribe of Dan, which was small in size.
As a parallel, Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands are large countries, but they do not have large populations.
Nation |
Population |
size in km2 (and ml2) |
population density per km2 (and ml2) |
Norway |
4,777,000 |
385,252 (148,746) |
12 (31) |
Iceland |
320,000 |
103,000 (39,770) |
3.1 (7.5) |
The Faroe Islands |
48,000 |
1,399 (540) |
34 (88) |
Denmark (excl. the Faroe Islands and Greenland) |
5,475,000 |
43,094 (16,639) |
129 (334) |
Cover of a “Tordenskjold” matchbox picturing the naval hero Peter Wessel, a.k.a. Tordenskjold (Thundershield) (1690-1720). Some call him a Norwegian, others call him a Dane.
The tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Dan were so closely connected that in the book of 1 Kings a half-Phænician engraver is called the son of a woman of the tribe of Naphtali, while in the book of 2 Chronicles he is called the son of a woman of the tribe of Dan:
“And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. He was the widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work.” (1 Kings 7:13-14, my underlining)
And the king of Tyre writing to king Solomon: “And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of Huram my father’s, the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every device which shall be put to him, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord David thy father.” (2 Chronicles 2:13-14, my underlining)
As a parallel, many great men of history are called Norwegians by some, but Danes by others, because Denmark and Norway were a united kingdom, with Denmark being the strong part, from 1380 to 1814. One of the great heroes of both Norwegian and Danish history is thus the naval hero Peter Wessel (1690-1720), a.k.a. “Tordenskjold” (“Thundershield”), who fought against Sweden in the Great Northern War (1700-1721). In Danish history books Thundershield is often described as a Dane, and his portrait even adorns the most popular brand of Danish matchboxes. But actually Thundershield was a Norwegian, born in Trondheim in Norway.
When the 12 tribes of Israel are re-gathered in the land of Canaan, Naphtali will receive the third most northern inheritance, between Asher and Manasseh. From the north going south, the inheritances will be Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, and so forth (Ezekiel 48:3-4).
In the New Jerusalem of re-gathered Israel, Naphtali’s gate will be on the west side along with Asher and Gad, two of the other tribes of the sons of the concubines (Ezekiel 48:34).
Bibles:
The Authorized King James Version of the Bible
The Danish Authorized Translation of the Old Testament of 1931 (authorized by Christian X king of Denmark)
Other books:
W.H. Bennett: Symbols of Our Celto-Saxon Heritage (Canadian British-Israel Association: Windsor, Ontario, Canada, 1976)
Hans F.K. Günther: The Racial Elements of European History (Methuen and Company: London, UK, 1927) http://www.white-history.com/earlson/hfk/reoehcover.htm
James Strong: Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Hendrickson Publishers: Peabody, Massachussetts, USA, undated)
Internet articles:
Sybille Hildebrandt: Genetisk Europakort: Finner og italienere er outsidere (2008) http://www.videnskab.dk/composite-986.htm
Different wikipedia articles
[i] Sybille Hildebrandt: Genetisk Europakort: Finner og italienere er outsidere (2008)
Click this footnote's number to return to where you were in the text.
[ii] Hans F.K. Günther: The Racial Elements of European History (1927), Chapter VI Part Three
Click this footnote's number to return to where you were in the text.
[iii] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland#Demographics
Click this footnote's number to return to where you were in the text.
[iv] Y chromosones, which traces male descent, are 87% Scandinavian, and mitochondrial DNA, which traces female descent, are 84% Scottish or Irish.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faroe_Islands#cite_note-2
Click this footnote's number to return to where you were in the text.
[v] In the AKJV the verse is translated: “And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the LORD: possess thou the west and the south.” (Deuteronomy 33:23, AKJV) The word rendered “west” in the AKJV is in several un-authorized English translations and in the Danish 1931 authorized translation of the Old Testament rendered “the lake”.
The original Danish reads: “Om Naftali sagde han: Naftali er mæt af nåde og fuld af HERRENS velsignelse, Søen og søvejen har han i eje.” (Deuteronomy 33:23, Danish 1931 authorized translation) The translation of this verse makes more sense in other translations than in the AKJV, because when the tribes of Israel possessed Canaan, Naphtali possessed land in the utmost north, and not in the west and south.
Click this footnote's number to return to where you were in the text.