אילה, Gen. xlix, 21; 2 Sam. xxii, 34; Job xxxix, 1; Psalm xviii,
33; xxix, 9; Prov. v, 19; Cant. ii, 7; iii, 5; Jer. xiv, 5; Hab. iii,
19; the mate or female of the stag. It is a lovely creature, and of an
elegant shape. It is noted for its swiftness and the sureness of its
step as it jumps among the rocks. David and Habakkuk both allude to this
character of the hind. “The Lord maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and
causeth me to stand on the high places,” Psalm xviii, 33; Hab. iii, 19.
The circumstance of their standing on the high places or mountains is
applied to these animals by Xenophon. Our translators make Jacob,
prophesying of the tribe of Naphtali, say, “Naphtali is a hind let
loose: he giveth goodly words,” Gen. xlix, 21. There is a difficulty and
incoherence here which the learned Bochart removes by altering a little
the punctuation of the original; and it then reads, “Naphtali is a
spreading tree, shooting forth beautiful branches.” This, indeed,
renders the simile uniform; but another critic has remarked that “the
allusion to a tree seems to be purposely reserved by the venerable
patriarch for his son Joseph, who is compared to the boughs of a tree;
and the repetition of the idea in reference to Naphtali is every way
unlikely. Beside,” he adds, “the word rendered ‘let loose,’ imports an
active motion, not like that of the branches of a tree, which, however
freely they wave, are yet attached to the parent stock; but an emission,
a dismission, or sending forth to a distance: in the present case, a
roaming, roaming at liberty. The verb ‘he giveth’ may denote shooting
forth. It is used of production, as of the earth, which shoots forth,
yields, its increase, Lev. xxvi, 4. The word rendered ‘goodly’ signifies
_noble_, _grand_, _majestic_; and the noun translated ‘words’ radically
signifies _divergences_, what is spread forth.” For these reasons he
proposes to read the passage, “Naphtali is a deer roaming at liberty; he
shooteth forth spreading branches,” or “majestic antlers.” Here the
distinction of imagery is preserved, and the fecundity of the tribe and
the fertility of their lot intimated. In our version of Psalm xxix, 9,
we read, “The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, and
discovereth the forests.” Mr. Merrick, in an ingenious note on the
place, attempts to justify the rendering; but Bishop Lowth, in his
“Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews,” observes that this
agrees very little with the rest of the imagery, either in nature or
dignity; and that he does not feel himself persuaded, even by the
reasonings of the learned Bochart on this subject: whereas the oak,
struck with lightning, admirably agrees with the context. The Syriac
seems, for אילות, _hinds_, to have read אלות, _oaks_, or rather,
perhaps, _terebinths_. The passage may be thus versified:--
“Hark! his voice in thunder breaks,
And the lofty mountain quakes;
Mighty trees the tempests tear,
And lay the spreading forests bare!”
33; xxix, 9; Prov. v, 19; Cant. ii, 7; iii, 5; Jer. xiv, 5; Hab. iii,
19; the mate or female of the stag. It is a lovely creature, and of an
elegant shape. It is noted for its swiftness and the sureness of its
step as it jumps among the rocks. David and Habakkuk both allude to this
character of the hind. “The Lord maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and
causeth me to stand on the high places,” Psalm xviii, 33; Hab. iii, 19.
The circumstance of their standing on the high places or mountains is
applied to these animals by Xenophon. Our translators make Jacob,
prophesying of the tribe of Naphtali, say, “Naphtali is a hind let
loose: he giveth goodly words,” Gen. xlix, 21. There is a difficulty and
incoherence here which the learned Bochart removes by altering a little
the punctuation of the original; and it then reads, “Naphtali is a
spreading tree, shooting forth beautiful branches.” This, indeed,
renders the simile uniform; but another critic has remarked that “the
allusion to a tree seems to be purposely reserved by the venerable
patriarch for his son Joseph, who is compared to the boughs of a tree;
and the repetition of the idea in reference to Naphtali is every way
unlikely. Beside,” he adds, “the word rendered ‘let loose,’ imports an
active motion, not like that of the branches of a tree, which, however
freely they wave, are yet attached to the parent stock; but an emission,
a dismission, or sending forth to a distance: in the present case, a
roaming, roaming at liberty. The verb ‘he giveth’ may denote shooting
forth. It is used of production, as of the earth, which shoots forth,
yields, its increase, Lev. xxvi, 4. The word rendered ‘goodly’ signifies
_noble_, _grand_, _majestic_; and the noun translated ‘words’ radically
signifies _divergences_, what is spread forth.” For these reasons he
proposes to read the passage, “Naphtali is a deer roaming at liberty; he
shooteth forth spreading branches,” or “majestic antlers.” Here the
distinction of imagery is preserved, and the fecundity of the tribe and
the fertility of their lot intimated. In our version of Psalm xxix, 9,
we read, “The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, and
discovereth the forests.” Mr. Merrick, in an ingenious note on the
place, attempts to justify the rendering; but Bishop Lowth, in his
“Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews,” observes that this
agrees very little with the rest of the imagery, either in nature or
dignity; and that he does not feel himself persuaded, even by the
reasonings of the learned Bochart on this subject: whereas the oak,
struck with lightning, admirably agrees with the context. The Syriac
seems, for אילות, _hinds_, to have read אלות, _oaks_, or rather,
perhaps, _terebinths_. The passage may be thus versified:--
“Hark! his voice in thunder breaks,
And the lofty mountain quakes;
Mighty trees the tempests tear,
And lay the spreading forests bare!”