Genesis 49:21

Summary

Genesis 49:21 compares Naphtali to a doe that has been set loose, and describes this figure as one who utters beautiful words or sayings. The verse is part of Jacob's blessing on his sons, using animal imagery paired with a statement about speech.

Key words

• ayalah ("doe", H0355) — a feminine singular noun naming the animal image applied to Naphtali.
• sheluchah ("let loose", H7971) — a qal passive participle, feminine singular, agreeing grammatically with ayalah; it describes the doe as one that has been released or sent free.
• ha-noten ("the one uttering", H9009 + H5414) — a qal active participle with the definite article, masculine singular. Its masculine gender does not match the feminine ayalah, which raises the grammatical question of whether the subject here is the doe or Naphtali himself.
• imrei ("words of", H0561) — masculine plural noun in construct state, meaning it must be joined to the following word to complete its sense ("words of X").
• shapher ("beauty", H8233) — masculine singular noun, completing the construct phrase as "words of beauty" or "pleasant sayings."

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence has two parts. The first equates Naphtali with ayalah shelucḥah, "a doe let loose" — both words are feminine and agree grammatically, forming a simple image of a released or freely-running animal. The second part shifts to a masculine participle, ha-noten, "the one who utters," followed by the construct chain imrei shapher, "words of beauty." Because ha-noten is masculine while ayalah is feminine, the grammatical subject of this second clause is ambiguous in Hebrew: it could describe Naphtali as a person returning to the masculine gender of his own name, rather than continuing to describe the doe. The construct phrase imrei shapher denotes speech — "sayings" or "words" — rather than offspring or produce.

Differences between versions

The LXX reads stelechos aneimenon ("a released stem/trunk"), replacing the Hebrew doe image with a plant-based one, and continues with epididous en tō genēmati ("yielding in the fruit"), shifting the meaning from uttering words to producing fruit. The Vulgate keeps an animal image with cervus emissus ("a stag sent forth," masculine, unlike the Hebrew feminine ayalah) and renders the second clause as dans eloquia pulchritudinis, "giving words of beauty," which stays close to the Hebrew sense of speech. The modern renderings BSB ("bears beautiful fawns") and SBLIBRE ("tiene hermosas crías," "has beautiful offspring") interpret imrei shapher as referring to offspring rather than to spoken words, diverging from the literal Hebrew construct phrase "words of beauty."