Commentaire sur La Genèse 49:21

אילה שלחה is symbolical of the valley of Gennesareth which ripens its fruits very quickly, just as a hind runs rapidly (Genesis Rabbah 99:12). אילה שלחה means A HIND LET LOOSE that it may run where it pleases.

NAPHTALI IS A HIND SENT FORTH. It was a custom among the rulers of countries to send hinds to one another, and this was the manner in which it was done: Hinds which were born in the territory of the king of the north country would be raised in the palaces of the king of the south country. They would attach a written message to its horns, and it would run speedily and return to its original habitat, and in this way the king of the north country would be apprised of the news. This is the meaning of the phrase, He giveth goodly words, meaning that he is a dispatched hind sent who bears good tidings.
This practice is known, and it is mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud, in Tractate Shevi’ith:²⁰⁶9:2. “They said,²⁰⁷In our Jerusalem Talmud the text reads: “The officers said to him.” The story told there is about Diocletian, the emperor who oppressed the people of a certain city with heavy taxes. When the people threatened to leave the place the officers said to Diocletian: “If they go they will return, for it is in the nature of people to return to their birthplace. And if you wish to prove it, etc.” ‘If they go they will return, and if you wish to prove it, bring deer and send them to a land far away, and in the end they will return.’ He did so. He brought deer and covered their horns with silver²⁰⁸So that they would be recognized upon their return. and sent them to Africa, and at the end of thirteen years they returned to their place.” That is, they freed them after thirteen years, and they returned at once. The analogy is that Naphtali is satisfied with favor, and full²⁰⁹Deuteronomy 33:23. with all good things, and from him tidings will come forth to all Israel that his land has produced fruits abundantly, even as our Rabbis have mentioned concerning the fruits of Genothar.²¹⁰Berachoth 44a. The fruits of Genessar (a district around the Sea of Kinnereth) were considered more nourishing than bread, so that if one eats them together with bread he recites the Benediction over the fruits, as they are the main food.

אילה שלוחה, his soldiers were as fleet-footed as gazelles. In Chronicles I 12,9 this is described as Naftali being כצבאים על ההרים למהר , “as speedy as the deer on the mountains.”