Numbers 6:1-21

D. THE VOW OF THE NAZIRITE Numbers 6:1-21

TEXT

Numbers 6:1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2. Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord; 3. He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. 4. All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. 6. All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come at no dead body. 7. He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head. 8. All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord. 9. And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it. 10. And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: 11. And the priest shall offer for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day. 12. And he shall consecrate unto the Lord the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.

13. And this is the law of the Nazarite: when the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: 14. And he shall offer his offering unto the Lord, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings, 15. And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings. 16. And the priest shall bring them before the Lord, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering: 17. And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his meat offering, and his drink offering. 18. And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings. 19. And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after the hair of his separation is shaven: 20. And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord: this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder: and after that the Nazarite may drink wine. 21, This is the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed, and of his offering unto the Lord for his separation, besides that that his hand shall get: according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation.

PARAPHRASE

Numbers 6:1. Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2. Speak to the children of Israel and tell them, -When either a man or a woman takes the special vow of a Nazirite to separate himself to the Lord, 3. he shall abstain from wine and strong drink, and shall drink neither fermented wine, nor other fermented drink, nor any liquid from grapes, nor eat fresh or dried grapes. 4, All the days of his abstinence he shall eat nothing which comes from the grape vine, from the seeds to the skin. 5. All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall touch his head. Until the days are completed during which he separates himself to the Lord, he shall be holy unto the Lord; and he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long. 6. All the days of his separation unto the Lord he shall not approach a dead person. 7. He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister when they die, because the sign of God is upon his head. All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord. 9. And if any man dies very suddenly near him, and his head of consecration has been defiled, then he shall shave his head on the day he becomes clean, that is, on the seventh day. 10. Then on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the door of the Tent of Meeting. 11. The priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering and make atonement for him, because he was defiled by the dead; and he shall consecrate his head on that same day, 12. and dedicate to the Lord the days of his abstinence, and bring a year-old male lamb for a guilt offering: and the previous days shall be void because his separation was defiled.

13. Now this is the law of the Nazirite when the days of his separation are completed: he shall be brought to the Tent of Meeting, 14. and he shall offer his offering to the Lord, one year-old male lamb without blemish for a sin offering, and one year-old ewe lamb without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for a peace offering, 15. and a basket of unleavened bread, loaves of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with their grain offering and their drink offerings. 16. Then the priest shall present them unto the Lord, and shall offer with his sin offering and his burnt offering. 17. He shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall also offer his meal offering and his drink offering. 18. Then the Nazirite shall shave his head of separation at the door of the Tent of Meeting and take the hair of his head of separation and put it in the fire beneath the sacrifice of peace offerings. 19. And the priest shall take the boiled ram's shoulder and one unleavened loaf from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and put them upon the hands of the Nazirite after his hair of separation is shaved. 20. Then the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. This is holy for the priest, together with the waved breast and the lifted shoulder; and after that the Nazirite may drink wine. 21. This is the law of the Nazirite who has vowed, and of his separation offering unto the Lord, in addition to whatever else he can afford; according to the vow he has taken, so he must do according to the law of his separation.-'

COMMENTARY

The name here has been misspelled consistently by those who have made a false association between a Nazirite and a Nazarene. Aside from the similarity in spelling, confusion is impossible. A Nazarene was simply one from Nazareth, a city unknown during the Old Testament period. The term -Nazirite-' is derived from the Hebrew root nazir, whose basis meaning indicates -separation-', which is significant to the vow. The name of the city of Nazareth was derived from netser, meaning a shoot or sprout.

The Nazirite pledged himself to one of two kinds of vows, either temporary or lifelong. Three individuals in the Bible are known to have been lifelong Nazirites: Samuel, Samson and John the Baptist. Although women were privileged to subscribe to the vow, we have no record of any who so pledged themselves, on either condition.
When one became a Nazirite, it was for the purpose of separation unto a special service for Jehovah. The vow lasted until the special task was accomplished. Such vows of separation are not found in Israel's history alone, although there are distinguishing marks in the system: (1) neither wine, nor grapes, nor any portion of the products of the vine were to be consumed; (2) the hair was never to be cut nor trimmed at all; and, (3) the subject should never come into contact with a dead body, even of the near of kin. When the angel of the Lord listed the details of the vow to which Samson should be pledged, a fourth element was included: he should eat no unclean thing (Judges 13:7). Since this final provision was a law unto Israel, its inclusion should have been unnecessary; however, the state of affairs at the time may have dictated that the term be included. Both Samuel and Samson were given to be Nazirites before their birth, and it is inferred from Luke 1:15 that the same is true of John. PBD affirms that many, but perhaps not all, of the Qumran community at the time of John were Nazirites, p. 575. Acts 21:23 ff. makes reference to Paul's support of the four men who were Nazirites, and some have believed the apostle himself subscribed in Acts 18:18. But the evidence is inconclusive. We do know that Herod Agrippa supported a number of Nazirites, according to Josephus, and that numerous Jews took the vow as a protest against Antiochus Epiphanes in the time of the Maccabeans. Among the bitter denunciations of Amos is a strong condemnation of those who gave wine to the Nazarites, thus inducing them to break their vows. In the passage, (Amos 2:11-12), the Nazirites apparently are considered, along with the prophets, to be spiritual leaders of the people.

Upon completion of the term of his pledge, the Nazirite was released to ordinary life according to the schedule announced in Numbers 6:13-20. The climax came when the hair of his head was shaved and burned. Thus the Nazirite acknowledged that he had been able to keep his vow by virtue of the strength God had given him. The sodden shoulder was the ram's left; the right already belonged to the priest. (Leviticus 7:32). Since the offerer shared in this offering, the peace offering, it was appropriate that he should take the choice portion not assigned to the priest for the sacrificial meal for himself and his family as all celebrated the conclusion of the vow. Wine was allowed for the occasion (Numbers 6:20).

QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS

113.

Distinguish between the Nazarene and the Nazirite, both as to meaning and derivation.

114.

At what age might one take the vow of the Nazirite?

115.

What is the purpose of this vow?

116.

Give the restrictions placed upon the Nazirite, and tell why each one was prescribed.

117.

What relationship might there be between the length of the Nazirite's hair and the validity of his vow?

118.

Which of the Bible characters are known to have been Nazirites? What proof have we in each case?

119.

How long did the Nazirite vow last?

120.

Describe the ritual through which a Nazirite devotee must go in the event of his defilement.

121.

List the steps associated with the completion of the vow of the Nazirite. What is the special symbolism of the shaving of the head? of the unleavened bread?

122.

How was the termination of the vow celebrated? by whom?