Naftali was the sixth son of Yaakov, born to Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid. Rachel named him in memory of her rivalry with her sister Leah: "A fateful contest I waged with my sister, and I have prevailed" (Genesis 30:8). He is the ancestor of the tribe of Naftali. His sons were Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer and Shillem (Genesis 46:24).

During the famine in Canaan he went down to Egypt with his brothers to buy food, and later settled there with the whole family of Yaakov.

Yaakov blessed him: "Naftali is a hind let loose, which yields lovely words" (Genesis 49:21), and Moshe said of his tribe: "O Naftali, sated with favor and full of the blessing of God" (Deuteronomy 33:23). The Talmud (Sotah 13a) relates that when Esav prevented the burial of Yaakov in the Cave of Machpelah and demanded the bill of sale, the brothers said: "Naftali will go, for he is as fast as a doe." Rabbi Abbahu reads the verse as "imrei sefer", the words of the document, since Naftali ran back to Egypt to bring it.

According to Yalkut Shimoni, Naftali was born on 5 Tishrei and died at the age of 133.

According to the Jerusalem Talmud, each tribe brought the bones of its ancestor up to the Land of Israel, and Sefer HaYashar relates that Naftali and Asher were buried at Kedesh Naftali, each in the portion given to his descendants. His tomb is marked today on Route 899, opposite Tel Kedesh in the Upper Galilee, next to that of his brother Asher.