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Numbers 6

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The Law of the Nazirite Vow 1–8

1
And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
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Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself unto Jehovah, ​
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he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried. ​
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All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the grape-vine, from the kernels even to the husk.
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All the days of his vow of separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in which he separateth himself unto Jehovah, he shall be holy; he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long. ​
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All the days that he separateth himself unto Jehovah he shall not come near to a dead body. ​
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He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die; because his separation unto God is upon his head. ​
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All the days of his separation he is holy unto Jehovah.

Defilement and Restoration 9–12

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And if any man die very suddenly beside him, and he defile the head of his separation; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it. ​
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And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tent of meeting:
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and the priest shall offer one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering, and make atonement for him, for that he sinned by reason of the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day. ​
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And he shall separate unto Jehovah the days of his separation, and shall bring a he-lamb a year old for a trespass-offering; but the former days shall be void, because his separation was defiled. ​

Concluding the Nazirite Vow 13–21

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And this is the law of the Nazirite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tent of meeting: ​
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and he shall offer his oblation unto Jehovah, one he-lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt-offering, and one ewe-lamb a year old without blemish for a sin-offering, and one ram without blemish for peace-offerings, ​
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and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their meal-offering, and their drink-offerings.
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And the priest shall present them before Jehovah, and shall offer his sin-offering, and his burnt-offering:
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and he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace-offerings unto Jehovah, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also the meal-offering thereof, and the drink-offering thereof.
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And the Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tent of meeting, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace-offerings. ​
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And the priest shall take the boiled 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 Nazirite, after he hath shaven the head of his separation;
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and the priest shall wave them for a wave-offering before Jehovah; this is holy for the priest, together with the wave-breast and heave-thigh: and after that the Nazirite may drink wine. ​
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This is the law of the Nazirite who voweth, and of his oblation unto Jehovah for his separation, besides that which he is able to get: according to his vow which he voweth, so he must do after the law of his separation.

The Aaronic Priestly Blessing 22–27

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And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, ​
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Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel: ye shall say unto them,
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Jehovah bless thee, and keep thee: ​
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Jehovah make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: ​
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Jehovah lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. ​
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So shall they put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Numbers 6

Verse 2

a vow of a Nazarite — Nazir, from nazar, to separate, is open to 'either man or woman', and the vow is made freely, 'to vow a vow'. It here runs for 'the days of his separation' (v.5). In Samson's case it was from the womb (Judg 13:5), and Hannah promised Samuel on the same terms (1 Sam 1:11). Amos 2:11 counts Nazarites with the prophets the LORD raised up.

Verse 3

wine and strong drink — The Nazarite gives up everything of the vine: wine (yayin), strong drink (shekar), their vinegar (chomets), the liquor of grapes (mishrah, steeped juice) and the grapes themselves, fresh or dried. Verse 4 says 'from the kernels even to the husk'. The angel's word of John the Baptist, 'drink neither wine nor strong drink', is the same (Luke 1:15).

Verse 5

no razor come upon his head — Ta'ar, a razor, is kept from the head, and the hair is left as pera, loose uncut locks. For the days of the vow the Nazarite 'shall be holy' (qadosh). Samson says plainly where his vow lay: 'There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God' (Judg 16:17).

Verse 6

no dead body — The words are those of Lev 21:11, which forbids the high priest to 'go in to any dead body'. The Nazarite is held to that standard. Common priests could defile themselves for near kin (Lev 21:1–3), but the Nazarite, who is no priest, could not even for his closest family (v.7).

Verse 7

the consecration of his God — The father, mother, brother and sister of the list are the kin for whom an ordinary priest might be defiled (Lev 21:2–3), and the Nazarite may not. 'Consecration' is nezer, the unshorn hair as a mark of separation, and also the word for a crown: the high priest has 'the crown of the anointing oil of his God' (Lev 21:12).

Verse 9

very suddenly — A death beside him, unplanned, still defiles 'the head of his consecration'. He shaves it on the seventh day of his cleansing: the water for one defiled by a dead body is applied on the third and seventh days (Num 19:12). The same seventh-day shaving marks the cleansed leper (Lev 14:9).

Verse 11

for that he sinned by the dead — Even an unintended contact is called a sin (chata) and needs atonement. The two birds of v.10, 'two turtles, or two young pigeons', are offered as in Lev 5:7, 'one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering'. The priest 'shall hallow his head that same day', and the vow begins again.

Verse 12

a trespass offering — Asham is the trespass offering, which in Lev 5:15 makes good a wrong done 'in the holy things of the LORD'. The Nazarite's days are the LORD's, so the days lost are paid for with a lamb of the first year. 'Shall be lost' is literally 'shall fall': the earlier days are not counted and he begins afresh.

Verse 13

the law of the Nazarite — When the days are fulfilled the Nazarite is brought 'unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation', and the end of the vow is made at the sanctuary as its beginning was before the LORD. Acts 21:26 shows the custom still observed, when Paul entered the temple 'to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification'.

Verse 14

one he lamb … one ewe lamb … one ram — Three offerings, each 'without blemish': a male lamb for the burnt offering (Lev 1:10), a ewe lamb for the sin offering (Lev 4:32) and a ram for peace offerings (Lev 3:6 allows male or female). Verse 15 adds the basket of unleavened bread, 'cakes of fine flour mingled with oil', and the meat and drink offerings.

Verse 18

shave the head of his separation — The hair that marked the vow is given up at the door of the tabernacle and put 'in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings'. It is not kept. Paul shaved his head at Cenchrea 'for he had a vow' (Acts 18:18), and the four men in Acts 21:24 do the same.

Verse 20

wave breast and heave shoulder — Tenuphah, the wave offering, is lifted before the LORD and becomes the priest's, with 'the wave breast and heave shoulder', his share of peace offerings by a statute for ever (Ex 29:27–28; Lev 7:34). The Nazarite's fast from the vine ends in the same offering: 'after that the Nazarite may drink wine'.

Verse 22

And the LORD spake unto Moses — The formula opens a new command, no longer about the vow. It is addressed to Aaron and his sons: 'On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel' (v.23). The Nazarite's separation was a consecration chosen by one person, and the blessing that follows is for the whole people.

Verse 24

bless thee, and keep thee — Barak, to bless, and shamar, to keep. The same verb stands in Ps 121:7, 'The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul', and in v.4, 'he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep'. 'Thee' is singular, one blessing spoken over the people as a whole.

Verse 25

make his face shine upon thee — Or in the causative, to give light. Ps 67:1 prays the blessing almost word for word: 'God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us'. Ps 80:19 asks for the same, 'cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved'. 'Gracious' is chanan.

Verse 26

lift up his countenance upon thee — To lift up the face is to look on with favour. Ps 4:6 asks, 'lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us'. 'Peace' is shalom, and the verb 'give' (sim, to set) is the same as 'put' in v.27: the priests put the name upon Israel, and the LORD puts peace there.

Verse 27

put my name upon the children of Israel — The name placed on the people is the LORD, which opens each of the three lines (vv.24–26). They are the people 'called by my name' (2 Chr 7:14; Deut 28:10). The priests speak the words, and the LORD says, 'I will bless them': the blessing is his own.