במדבר פרק א, מב
בְּנֵי נַפְתָֹּלִּי תּוֹלְדֹתָֹם לְמִּש ְפְּחֹתָֹם לְבֵית אֲבֹתָֹם בְּמִּסְפַּר ש ֵמֹת מִּבֶּּן עֶּש ְרִּ ים ש ָֹנָֹה וָֹמַעְלָֹה כֹּל יֹצֵא צָֹבָֹא
For all other tribes, the verse uses the language of בניל with a Lamed in front, but not for the tribe of Naftoli. It is possible to say that until this counting in the desert, the tribes did not encamp within an ordered structure. Rather the tribes pitched their tents in no order but were all mixed together.
Thus, when they now were commanded to count per tribe, it was necessary to announce first that the members of the tribe to be counted needed to separate from all the other population, to the place of the tribe being counted. For example, first to be counted was Reuven. Thus, the announcement went out that all members of the tribe of Reuven should move themselves to a designated area and be counted. And, so the announcement was made 11 times as each tribe was counted.
And the tribe of Naftoli was the last to be counted. Thus, all the other tribes had already “moved” out, and only the members of the tribe of Naftoli were left, and no need existed to make an announcement. Thus, the Lamed indicated the announcement for the other tribes and was not needed by Naftoli.
Why was the tribe of Naftoli counted last? The counting was according to the order of the “flags”, the designated groupings of three tribes, as mentioned in Chapter 2. Naftoli was the last of the fourth set.
Why was the arrangement that Naftoli would be the last of the fourth set (and thus, the last of the tribes)? It is possible due to the fact that the tribe of Naftoli was known to be light on their feet (fast), and the animal allusion from Yaacov was a fleet deer. Thus, their position in the back of the moving nation, allowed that in the event of a need for the nation to stand still or move faster, they could run quickly to all the other tribes, and have the pace of the march changed (to slow down the march if tribes in the back could not keep up the pace; or to go faster if trouble approached from the rear).
