Numbers 06.01-08 | The Regulations of a Nazirite

Numbers 06.01-08 “1 Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to dedicate himself to the LORD, 3 he shall abstain from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. 4 ‘All the days of his separation he shall not eat anything that is produced by the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin. 5 ‘All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the LORD; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long. 6 ‘All the days of his separation to the LORD he shall not go near to 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 his separation to God is on his head. 8 ‘All the days of his separation he is holy to the LORD.”

The Hebrew word for “Nazirite” is H5139. ryzn naziyr naw-zeer’; or rzn nazir naw-zeer’; from 05144; separate, i.e. consecrated (as prince, a Nazirite); hence (figuratively from the latter) an unpruned vine (like an unshorn Nazirite):-- Nazarite [by a false alliteration with Nazareth], separate(-d), vine undressed.

         H5144. rzn nazar naw-zar’; a primitive root; to hold aloof, i.e. (intransitivey) abstain (from food and drink, from impurity, and even from divine worship [i.e. apostatize]); specifically, to set apart (to sacred purposes), i.e. devote:-- consecrate, separate(-ing, self).

The word “Nazirite” comes from a Hebrew word that means, “to separate”.

The vow of a Nazirite was a voluntary vow, which a man or a woman could make for a certain amount of time.

The Hebrew Mishna records for us that a Nazirite vow could last as long as 100 days, but usually was for a period of 30 days.

In the Bible, we have recorded for us only 03 who were lifelong Nazirites. These three were Samuel (1Samuel 01.11), Samson (Judges 13.04-05, 07, 14), and John the Baptist (Luke 01.15).

There were three requirements that comprised the vow of the Nazirite:

01. Could not eat or drink anything from the vine (Numbers 06.02-04)

02. Could not cut their hair (Numbers 06.05)

03. Could not go near a dead body (Numbers 06.06-08)

The fruit of the vine symbolizes human joy; long hair was a symbol of shame and humiliation for a man (1Corinthians 11.14-15); and a dead body causes one to be defiled (Leviticus 11.31-32; Leviticus 21.01-12; Numbers 05.02).

To be joyful, the Nazirite abstained from wine, to be strong he became weak (Leviticus 14.08-09), and in order to love his relatives he needed to “hate” them (Luke 14.26).

The Nazirite was to be a living sign of holiness, much in the same way that a leper was a living sign of sin, and because of that the Nazirite is a paradox to those who are in the world, much like what Paul wrote about in 1Corinthians 01.17-31; 1Corinthians 04.09-13; and in 2Corinthians 06.14-18.