Forefather Naphtali

IMPORTANT CORRECTION: the category has been corrected from "righteous" to "forefather". HONEST NOTE: direct verification of the Orthodox Encyclopedia's article on Naphtali literally confirms: "commemorated in the Synaxis of the Holy Forefathers and the Synaxis of the Holy Fathers" — that is, he has no separate fixed feast day, only joint commemoration in two movable pre-Nativity Sunday feasts; the date field has been left empty.

Naphtali was the sixth son of the Patriarch Jacob, born to Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant (Genesis 30, 35); founder of one of the 12 Tribes of Israel. His name means "my struggle" — per Rachel's explanation, referring to her rivalry with her sister Leah. Jacob's deathbed blessing describes him as "a doe let loose, who utters beautiful words" (Genesis 49:21 per the Slavonic/LXX text). St. Andrew of Crete's Great Canon interprets the Tribe of Naphtali (among the 144,000 "sealed" of Revelation) as a symbol of unceasing prayer and devotion to God. By the time Jacob's family relocated to Egypt, he had four sons.