Numbers 6

Numbers 6:1 And Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,

Numbers 6:2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special solemn pledge,[1] the solemn pledge[2] of a Nazirite to separate himself to Yahveh,

Numbers 6:3 he will separate himself from wine and strong drink. He will drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and will not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried.

Numbers 6:4 All the days of his separation he will eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.

Numbers 6:5 “All the days of his solemn pledge of separation, no razor will touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to Yahveh, he will be holy. He will let the locks of hair on his head grow long.

Numbers 6:6 “All the days that he separates himself to Yahveh he will not go near a dead throat.

Numbers 6:7 Not even for his father or his mother, for brother or sister, if they die, will he make himself unclean, because his separation to God is on his head.

Numbers 6:8 All the days of his separation he is holy to Yahveh.

Numbers 6:9 “And if any man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head, then he will shave his head on the day of his purification; on the seventh day he will shave it.

Numbers 6:10 On the eighth day, he will bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest to the entrance of the conference tent,

Numbers 6:11 and the priest will offer one for a failure offering and the other for an ascending offering, and provide reconciliation for him, because he made a failure by reason of the dead throat. And he will consecrate his head that same day

Numbers 6:12 and separate himself to Yahveh for the days of his separation and bring a male lamb a year old for a reparation offering. But the previous period will be void because his separation was defiled.

Numbers 6:13 “And this is the instruction for the Nazirite when the time of his separation has been completed: he will be brought to the entrance of the conference tent,

Numbers 6:14 and he will bring his gift to Yahveh, one perfect male lamb a year old for an ascending offering, and one ewe lamb a year old perfect as a failure offering, and one ram perfect as an offering for healthy relationships,

Numbers 6:15 and a basket of unleavened bread, loaves of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and their tribute offering and their drink offerings.

Numbers 6:16 And the priest will bring them before Yahveh and offer his failure offering and his ascending offering,

Numbers 6:17, and he will offer the ram as a sacrifice for healthy relationships with Yahveh, along with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest will also provide its tribute offering and drink offering.

Numbers 6:18 And the Nazirite will shave his consecrated head at the entrance of the conference tent and will take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of the offering for healthy relationships.

Numbers 6:19 And the priest will take the shoulder of the ram when it is boiled, and one unleavened loaf out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and will put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the hair of his consecration,

Numbers 6:20 and the priest will wave them for a presentation offering before Yahveh. They are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed. And after that the Nazirite may drink wine.

Numbers 6:21 “This is the instruction of the Nazirite. But if he vows an offering to Yahveh above his Nazirite solemn pledge, as he can afford, in exact accordance with the vow that he takes, then he will do in addition to the instruction of the Nazirite.”

Numbers 6:22 Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,

Numbers 6:23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, and this is what you should say. This is how you will bless the people of Israel: you will say to them,

Numbers 6:24 Yahveh bless you and keep you;

Numbers 6:25 Yahveh make his face to light upon you and be gracious to you;

Numbers 6:26 Yahveh lift his face to you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:27 “This is how they will they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

[1] נָדָר =make a solemn pledge. Numbers 6:2, 21; 21:2; 30:2, 3, 10.

[2] נֶדֶר = solemn pledge. Numbers 6:2, 5; 15:3, 8; 21:2; 29:39; 30:2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14.

Numbers 6 quotes:

“While the ordinary Israelite forswore the eating of certain foods, the Nazirite added to this list drink (wine and all grape products, perhaps the choicest of the Promised Land’s fruits that these refugees anticipated; see the grape cluster in Num. 13:23). While the ordinary Israelite marked himself by refusing to round off the forelocks or trim the beard (Lev. 19:27), the Nazirite let all his hair grow (perhaps as a way of “remembering” the “wildness” of the wilderness, where such grooming was undoubtedly a luxury). While the ordinary Israelites were obligated to follow certain procedures following contact with a corpse (Num. 19), and the priests were forbidden to come near any corpse except those of closest kin (Lev. 21), the Nazirites forswore contact even with the corpse of father and mother (perhaps to make clear who their true parent was).”

Boyce Richard Nelson. Leviticus and Numbers. 1st ed. Westminster John Knox Press 2008. p. 124.

“Priests and Levites were conscripts. It is refreshing now to read a passage that makes room for the volunteer, any man or woman (2) who wishes to offer time and service to God for whatever purposes he or she may determine. Here is an episode in the life of people who wanted to express their love for God and gratitude to him in practical terms. The provisions governing the vow of a Nazirite (from nazar, to be separated or consecrated) are found only in this chapter, but this vow came to have special importance in the spiritual life of God’s people both within the biblical period and later. The Nazirite was separated to the Lord, from the world and for the work.”

Brown Raymond. The Message of Numbers : Journey to the Promised Land. InterVarsity Press 2002. p. 48.

“If you know someone who dresses in a special way and who adopts certain other procedures for religious reasons, are you tempted to scorn him? When I was a young believer in Christ I had a negative attitude toward anybody who put on a robe to preach in a pulpit or to sing in a choir. However, different people believe in different distinctive practices to enhance ee worship of God, and we should accept them on this basis.”

Gutzke, Manford George. Plain Talk on Leviticus and Numbers. Zondervan Pub. House., 1981. p. 72.

The vow was one of consecration or separation to God, and it involved a protracted time frame and strict regulation. Male or female could take this vow, but they must abstain from fermented beverages of any kind including vinegar, itself a by-product of the vine. The latter requirement was similar to the restrictions put on functioning priests (Lev. 10:8-11). This vow required scrupulous attention to detail and strict attention to all governing regulations. Hence it was one of the few acts of personal devotion brought under Levitical legislation.”

Martin, Glen, and Max E. Anders. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Broadman & Holman, 2002 pp. 281-282.

“The earliest instance we know of a man called by this title is that of Samson, ‘a Nazirite consecrated to God from the day of his birth’ (Judg. 13 : 5). He is a Nazirite for life; a man devoted to God, rather than a pious man. His great renown is his long hair (worn because he is a Nazirite) which gives him his strength. Samuel, though he is not called a Nazirite, is given to God, and may not shave (i Sam. i : 11). Amos treats the existence of Nazirites, who do not drink wine, as due to a great act of God, parallel with the deliverance from Egypt and the institution of prophecy (Amos 2).”

Sturdy John et al. Numbers. Re-issued in this digitally printed version 2008 ed. Cambridge University Press 2010. p. 49.

“The Nazirites were the monks and nuns of ancient Israel, lay men or women who consecrated themselves to the total service of God, usually for a specific period of time, though more rarely for life. The laws on Nazirites were included here because they fit the general theme of this part of Numbers. The nation is being organized as the holy people of God. Israel was called to be ‘a kingdom of priests’ (Exod. 19:6), and the rules voluntarily assumed by the Nazirites resembled those governing the behaviour of priests, while their distinctive hairstyle reminded the laity that even they were called to be kings and priests to God (cf. Rev. 5:10). Thus as marriage symbolized the relationship between God and Israel (Num. 5), so the Nazirites epitomized the holy calling of the nation (Jer. 7:29). If pollution through dead bodies demanded the expulsion of ordinary laymen from the camp (5:2–3), it had an even more drastic effect on the Nazirites, the quintessence of sanctity (6:9–12).”

Wenham, Gordon J.. Numbers: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 4) (p. 96). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.