Satisfied with and full of mean exactly the same thing, as do favor and the blessing of the LORD. New International Version does a good job of combining the various elements: “Naphtali is abounding with the favor of the LORD, and is full of his blessing.”

In some cases it will be better to change and make Naphtali the object of Yahweh’s action: “The LORD has been good to [the tribe of] Naphtali, and has poured out his blessings on him [or, them].” However, in a number of languages translators will need to make the meaning of blessing clear; for example:

• About the people of the tribe of Naphtali he said,
“Yahweh has been very kind to you
and given you many good things….”

Possess the lake and the south: some translations use the indicative mood (Good News Translation “their land reaches to”; also Revised English Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje), but it seems better to retain the imperative.

The lake translates the Hebrew word “the sea,” which also bears the meaning “west.” Since the territory of the tribe of Naphtali was west of Lake Galilee, “the sea” would be Lake Galilee itself. It is recommended that the following serve as a model: “Take possession of territory to the west and to the south of your land” (so Bible en français courant).

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .