Deuteronomy 33:23

BLESSING OF NAPHTALI (Deuteronomy 33:23)

"And of Naphtali he said,

O Naphtali, satisfied with favor,

And full with the blessing of Jehovah,

Possess thou the west and the south."

"The west and the south" may be presumably the western and southern portions of Palestine, but Palestine is not mentioned here; and, as one observer noted, `There's not a place on earth which cannot be described as the `west' and the `south,' provided the appropriate point of reference is selected!" Again, the generality of the language is pervasive. Unger thought that the "possession of the `south' here means the southern part skirting along by the sea of Chinnereth,"[20] but such an interpretation goes dramatically beyond what is written. We think that "the west and the south" are merely an idiomatic way of designating a favorable location.