Numbers 6:2

shall make a special vow as in Numbers 15:3; Numbers 15:8; Leviticus 22:21; Leviticus 27:2. The exact force of the term is not clear, but it does not seem to differ from - makea vow."

a Nazirite1 [Note: The spelling Nazarite, of the A.V., is erroneous.]] Heb. Nâzîr, denotes -one separated" (as R.V. marg.). The full form is -a Nazirof God" (Judges 13:5; Judges 13:7), i.e. a religious devotee. Two kinds of Nazirites are mentioned in the O.T.2 [Note: See art. Nazirite in Hastings" DB. iii.], (1) those who were bound for life, (2) those who took the vow for a specified time. There is no evidence that the latter class existed before the exile. Of life-long Nazirites Samson is the clearest instance; and see Amos 2:11 f., and perhaps 1 Samuel 1:11; Luke 1:15. The Rechabites (Jeremiah 35:6-10) may have been devotees of a somewhat similar type. Temporary Nazirites were very numerous in later Jewish history. They are probably referred to in Acts 18:18; Acts 21:23 f. -The Nazirites who had accomplished their days" are spoken of in 1Ma 3:49. And in the Mishna, the authoritative compendium of rabbinic regulations, one section or -tract" is called Nazir, and deals exclusively with the subject. The temporary vow was frequently taken for purely private and personal reasons, such as thanksgiving for recovery from illness, for the birth of a child, and so on. The present passage deals with an already established custom, and is written chiefly with the object of prescribing the offerings to be made at the conclusion of the vow.