Nazirites
6
And the LORD spoke to Moses saying, 2 📚“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When a man, or a woman, vows the special vow of a Nazirite to dedicate himself to the LORD, 6:2 The word Nazir comes from a Hebrew word meaning to dedicate or consecrate. The Nazirite was either a man or woman who dedicated himself or herself fully to God for a stated period of time. Parents could dedicate their children as Nazirites for their whole life. This was done in the case of Samson, the only person in the Bible mentioned by name as being a Nazirite (Jud 13:5). It is possible that Samuel was one, judging from his mother’s vow in 1 Sam 1:11. Certainly he was dedicated to the Lord for life (1 Sam 1:27-28). There were other Nazirites too but we are not told any of their names (Amos 2:11-12). It is said of John the Baptist that he would drink no wine (Luke 1:15), possibly indicating that he was to be a Nazirite. In this Church age all believers are to fully dedicate themselves to God (Rom 12:1-2), they are to be spiritual Nazirites – which has nothing to do with not eating grapes or having long hair.⚜
3 📚he must abstain from wine and strong drink and drink no vinegar made from wine or vinegar made from strong drink, and he must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or dried ones. 4 📚All the days of his dedication he must eat nothing that is produced by the grape vine, from the seeds to the skin.
6:3-4 Nazirites had to abstain from certain things that others could freely partake of. The person dedicated to the Lord cannot live as those who are not. Wine spoke of the ordinary pleasures of life that were permitted to others (Ps 104:15).⚜
5 📚“All the days of his vow of dedication no razor is to come on his head. He is to let the locks of his hair grow until the days for which he has dedicated himself to the LORD are completed, and he shall be holy.
6:5 Long hair was the outward sign of a Nazirite (Jud 13:5; 16:17). Long hair, the apostle Paul wrote, is a dishonor to a man but a glory to a woman (1 Cor 11:14-15). It speaks of a woman’s proper place of subjection to a man. The Nazirite male had to be willing to bear this reproach. Perhaps it suggested his spiritual marriage to the Lord and subjection to God’s will.⚜
6 📚All the days of his dedication to the LORD he must not approach a dead body 📖. 7 📚He shall not make himself unclean for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, if they die. Because the sign of his dedication to his God is on his head. 8 📚All the days of his dedication he is holy to the LORD.
6:7-8 Death was considered defiling (note Lev 21:1-4). Because of all the above rules for a Nazirite Jesus Christ could not have been one (although, of course, He was fully dedicated to the will of God and fulfilled all the spiritual realities that Old Testament Nazirites symbolized). He drank wine (Mark 14:23-25). He touched the dead (Mark 5:41; Luke 7:14); and there is no reason to think He had long hair. There is no connection between the words Nazirite and Nazarene.⚜
9 📚“And if anyone dies very suddenly near him, and he defiles his dedicated head of hair, then he shall shave his head on the day he becomes clean. He shall shave it on the seventh day. 10 📚And on the eighth day he shall bring two doves or two young pigeons to the priest at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; 11 📚and the priest shall offer one as a sin offering, and the other as a burnt offering and make atonement for him, because he sinned by being near a dead body. And the man shall consecrate his head that same day; 12 📚and he shall dedicate the days of his consecration to the LORD, and bring a lamb a year old as a trespass offering; but the previous days will be void, because his dedication was defiled.
6:9-12 The defilement of death, the wages of sin, must be removed by sacrifice (Lev 5:7. See notes at Lev 13:1-44; 11:1). The hair must be completely shaved as in the case of the leper (Lev 14:8-9), and the Nazirite had to begin afresh to fulfil his vow.⚜
13 📚“And this is the law of the Nazirite, when the days of his dedication are completed: he is to be brought to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, 14 📚and he shall offer as his offering to the LORD one male lamb a year old, without blemish, as a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old, without blemish, as a sin offering, and one ram without blemish as peace offerings 📖, 15 📚and a basket of bread made without yeast, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and wafers of bread made without yeast, smeared with oil, and their grain offering, and their drink offerings.
16 “And the priest shall bring them before the LORD and present his sin offering and his burnt offering, 17 and offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, with the basket of bread made without yeast. The priest shall also present his grain offering, and his drink offering.
6:13-17 Lev 1:10-13; 4:27-35; 2:1-16; 3:1-5. The Nazirite, though especially consecrated to God and “holy to the Lord” (v 8), was still a sinner (had a sinful nature) and needed cleansing. This is true of the most dedicated, spiritual and holy Christians today also (1 Tim 1:15; Rom 7:18; Jam 3:2; 1 John 1:8-10; Matt 6:12).⚜
18 📚And the Nazirite shall shave his dedicated head at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of his dedicated head and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings.
6:18 Since long hair was a symbol all the days of his special dedication, the hair was removed and burned once those days were over.⚜
19 📚“And the priest shall take the ram’s shoulder after boiling it, and one cake made without yeast out of the basket, and one wafer made without yeast, and put them in the hands of the Nazirite, after his dedicated hair has been shaved off; 20 📚and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. This is holy for the priest, with the waved breast and lifted up shoulder. After that the Nazarite may drink wine.
21 📚“This is the law of the Nazarite who has made a vow, and of his offering to the LORD concerning his dedication, in addition to what else he can afford. He must obey the law of his dedication in accordance with the vow he made”.
How the priests were to bless the people
22 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23 📚“Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the way you are to bless the children of Israel, saying to them,
24 📚“The LORD bless you,
and keep you.
25 📚The LORD make his face
shine on you,
and be gracious to you.
26 📚The LORD lift up his countenance
on you,
and give you peace.
27 📚“And they shall put my name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them”.
6:22-27 Here is the blessing which God Himself taught His priests to speak to His people. So these are the things He especially wants them to enjoy. They add up to a full and complete life. He wants them to have well-being and safety from every enemy (v 24; Deut 28:1-6; 1 Sam 2:9; Ps 12:7; 31:20; 91:11; John 17:11, 15). He wants them to have His light in their lives and on their daily paths and to enjoy always the grace and kindness of God (v 25; Ps 31:16; 67:1; 80:1, 3, 7, 19; 104:15; 119:135). He wants them to experience unbroken communion with Himself and the deep peace that only He can give (v 26; Ps 21:6; 42:5; 29:11; 85:8; 119:165; Isa 9:6-7; 26:3; 32:17; John 14:27; 16:33; Rom 14:17).
All these He still wants His people to enjoy. Through the cross of Christ they are all made available to all who believe in Him.
The lifting up of God’s countenance, the shining of His face on His people signify His favor and acceptance of them. The hiding of His face indicates His displeasure (Deut 31:17-18; 32:20; Ps 13:1; 27:9; 30:7; 69:17; 102:2; Isa 1:15). One great purpose God had in giving the whole Bible was that people might learn how to receive His blessings and enjoy them forever. See notes at Gen 12:3; Deut 28:3-14; Ps 1:1-2; 119:1-2; Matt 5:3-12; Luke 11:28; Acts 3:26; Gal 3:9, 14; Eph 1:3.⚜