Numbers 6:2

When either man or woman shall separate themselves, &c.— The word Nazarite signifies separated; because those who came under this vow separated themselves from the use of certain things specified in the following verses, and dedicated themselves peculiarly to the service of the Lord. Either man or woman might take this vow, provided the latter was at her own disposal; and not under the power of parent or husband, who might annul the vow. See chap. Numbers 30:4. From the mode of expression, whom either man or woman, it appears that this kind of vow had been in use before Moses's time, and was not now first instituted; which is another proof of an opinion that we have frequently advanced, that the greater part of the laws of Moses had been in use from the earliest ages, and were now only reduced to a regular and written digest.