Naphtali’s story begins in the shadow of Jacob’s own wrestling. When Jacob struggles with his new identity, consciousness confronts a new state — tension between the familiar self and the emerging faculty of imagination. From this struggle, Naphtali is born: the first fruit of friction within the mind, emerging as a state that will move with agility and express itself vividly through assumption.
The Name Naphtali: "My Struggle"
Genesis 30:8 records Rachel naming her son Naphtali, from the Hebrew נַפְתָּלִי, meaning "my struggle" or "wrestling". In Neville’s framework, this signifies the sacred friction between the old self — bound by limiting beliefs — and the new self poised to manifest higher states of consciousness.
Conditioned origin: Born of Bilhah, Rachel’s concubine, Naphtali emerges from the mind’s portions still influenced by external pressures or inherited limitations.
Necessary tension: Wrestling within consciousness is essential; without this friction, a new posture cannot arise.
The Blessing: From Struggle to Release and Swiftness
Jacob’s blessing in Genesis 49:21 defines the nature of Naphtali:
"Naphtali is a doe let loose: he giveth goodly words."
From struggle to release: The wrestling self is transformed into freedom within consciousness.
Swiftness and movement: The doe’s agility illustrates imagination moving decisively and freely once liberated.
Expression through words: Freed imagination produces inspired thought and speech, shaping reality.
Naphtali’s Territory: The Landscape of Imagination
Naphtali’s land allotment (Joshua 19:32–39) and its cities of refuge (Joshua 20:7) symbolise mental territory.
Mental domain: The territory is the space where the liberated imaginative state operates safely and productively.
Refuge in imagination: Cities of refuge represent secure space for imagination to flourish, free from limiting patterns.
Naphtali in Action
Scripture reflects the state’s dynamic expression:
Barak of Naphtali (Judges 4): Imagination in motion, aligned with inner faith, conquering fear and limitation.
Exile under Assyria (2 Kings 15:29): Temporary suppression when attention is dominated by external forces.
Isaiah’s prophecy and Galilee (Isaiah 9:1–2; Matthew 4:15–16): The fully awakened imaginative faculty brings light and manifestation into the world.
The Poetic Fulfilment
The Song of Solomon echoes Naphtali’s blessing: "My beloved is like a roe or a young hart" (Song 2:9, 17). The imagery reflects the agile, liberated, and expressive state — the culmination of wrestling transformed into creative flow.
Conclusion: Embrace the Naphtali Principle
Naphtali illustrates the pattern: a state emerges from the subconscious and conditioned mind, wrestles into recognition, is blessed into freedom, moves with swiftness, occupies its allotted territory, and expresses itself in action. Neville Goddard teaches that internal struggle is sacred — the precursor to imaginative mastery and the creation of new realities.