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Texts -- Numbers 6:1-20 (NET)

Context
The Nazirite Vow
6:1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses : 6:2 “Speak to the Israelites , and tell them, ‘When either a man or a woman takes a special vow , to take a vow as a Nazirite , to separate himself to the Lord , 6:3 he must separate himself from wine and strong drink , he must drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from strong drink , nor may he drink any juice of grapes , nor eat fresh grapes or raisins . 6:4 All the days of his separation he must not eat anything that is produced by the grapevine , from seed to skin . 6:5 “‘All the days of the vow of his separation no razor may be used on his head until the time is fulfilled for which he separated himself to the Lord . He will be holy , and he must let the locks of hair on his head grow long. 6:6 “‘All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he must not contact a dead body . 6:7 He must not defile himself even for his father or his mother or his brother or his sister if they die , because the separation for his God is on his head . 6:8 All the days of his separation he must be holy to the Lord .
Contingencies for Defilement
6:9 “‘If anyone dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head , then he must shave his head on the day of his purification – on the seventh day he must shave it. 6:10 On the eighth day he is to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest , to the entrance to the tent of meeting . 6:11 Then the priest will offer one for a purification offering and the other as a burnt offering , and make atonement for him, because of his transgression in regard to the corpse . So he must reconsecrate his head on that day . 6:12 He must rededicate to the Lord the days of his separation and bring a male lamb in its first year as a reparation offering , but the former days will not be counted because his separation was defiled .
Fulfilling the Vows
6:13 “‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite : When the days of his separation are fulfilled , he must be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting , 6:14 and he must present his offering to the Lord : one male lamb in its first year without blemish for a burnt offering , one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish for a purification offering , one ram without blemish for a peace offering , 6:15 and a basket of bread made without yeast , cakes of fine flour mixed with olive oil , wafers made without yeast and smeared with olive oil , and their grain offering and their drink offerings . 6:16 “‘Then the priest must present all these before the Lord and offer his purification offering and his burnt offering . 6:17 Then he must offer the ram as a peace offering to the Lord , with the basket of bread made without yeast ; the priest must also offer his grain offering and his drink offering . 6:18 “‘Then the Nazirite must shave his consecrated head at the entrance to the tent of meeting and must take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire where the peace offering is burning . 6:19 And the priest must take the boiled shoulder of the ram , one cake made without yeast from the basket , and one wafer made without yeast , and put them on the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated head; 6:20 then the priest must wave them as a wave offering before the Lord ; it is a holy portion for the priest , together with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the raised offering . After this the Nazirite may drink wine .’

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • Nazirite

    [isbe] NAZIRITE - naz'-i-rit (nazir, connected with nadhar, "to vow"; nazeir, nazeiraios, as also various words indicating "holiness" or "devotion"; the King James Version, Nazarite): 1. Antiquity and Origin 2. Conditions of the Vo...
    [nave] NAZIRITE Law concerning, Num. 6:1-21; Judg. 13:5. Character of, Lam. 4:7; Amos 2:11, 12. Instances of Samson, Judg. 13:5, 7; 16:17. Samuel, 1 Sam. 1:11. Rechabites, Jer. 35. John the Baptist, Matt. 11:18; Luke 1:15; 7:...

  • NAZARITE

    [ebd] (Heb. form Nazirite), the name of such Israelites as took on them the vow prescribed in Num. 6:2-21. The word denotes generally one who is separated from others and consecrated to God. Although there is no mention of any Naz...
    [smith] more properly Naz?irite (one separated), one of either sex who was bound by a vow of a peculiar kind to be set apart from others for the service of God. The obligation was either for life or for a defined time. There is no no...

  • HAIR

    [ebd] (1.) The Egyptians let the hair of their head and beard grow only when they were in mourning, shaving it off at other times. "So particular were they on this point that to have neglected it was a subject of reproach and ridi...
    [isbe] HAIR - har (se`ar, sa`ar, Aramaic se`ar, and their derivatives; thrix, gen. case trichos, kome): 1. Hair Fashions: Hair was worn in different fashions by the Orientals of Biblical times, and not always in the same way among ...

  • Samson

    [ebd] of the sun, the son of Manoah, born at Zorah. The narrative of his life is given in Judg. 13-16. He was a "Nazarite unto God" from his birth, the first Nazarite mentioned in Scripture (Judg. 13:3-5; comp. Num. 6:1-21). The f...

  • Fraternity

    [nave] FRATERNITY. Gen. 13:8; Deut. 15:7-15; Psa. 22:22; Psa. 133:1-3; Zech. 11:14; Mal. 2:10; Matt. 5:22-24; Matt. 18:15-18, 21, 22, 35; Matt. 23:8; Matt. 25:40; John 13:34 John 15:12. John 20:17; Rom. 12:10; 1 Cor. 6:1-8; 1 Cor....

  • John the Baptist

    [ebd] the "forerunner of our Lord." We have but fragmentary and imperfect accounts of him in the Gospels. He was of priestly descent. His father, Zacharias, was a priest of the course of Abia (1 Chr. 24:10), and his mother, Elisab...

  • SACRIFICE, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, 2

    [isbe] SACRIFICE, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, 2 - V. The Mosaic Sacrificial System. 1. The Covenant Sacrifice: The fundamental function of Moses' work was to establish the covenant between Israel and God. This important transaction took ...

  • Offerings

    [nave] OFFERINGS Offered at the door of the tabernacle, Lev. 1:3; 3:2; 17:4, 8, 9; of the temple, 2 Chr. 7:12; 1 Kin. 8:62; 12:27. All animal sacrifices must be eight days old or over, Lev. 22:27. Must be salted, Lev. 2:13; Ezek....

  • Basket

    [ebd] There are five different Hebrew words so rendered in the Authorized Version: (1.) A basket (Heb. sal, a twig or osier) for holding bread (Gen. 40:16; Ex. 29:3, 23; Lev. 8:2, 26, 31; Num. 6:15, 17, 19). Sometimes baskets were...
    [isbe] BASKET - bas'-ket: Four kinds of "baskets" come to view in the Old Testament under the Hebrew names, dudh, Tene', cal and kelubh. There is little, however, in these names, or in the narratives where they are found, to indica...
    [smith] The Hebrew terms used in the description of this article are as follows: (1) Sal , so called from the twigs of which it was originally made, specially used for holding bread. (Genesis 40:16) ff. (Exodus 29:3,23; Leviticus 8:2...
    [nave] BASKET, Gen. 40:16, 17; Ex. 29:3, 23, 32; Lev. 8:2; Num. 6:15; Deut. 26:2; 28:5, 17; 2 Kin. 10:7. Received the fragments after the miracles of the loaves, Matt. 14:20; 15:37; 16:9, 10. Paul let down from the wall in, Acts...

  • Wine

    [ebd] The common Hebrew word for wine is yayin, from a root meaning "to boil up," "to be in a ferment." Others derive it from a root meaning "to tread out," and hence the juice of the grape trodden out. The Greek word for wine is ...
    [nave] WINE Made from grapes, Gen. 40:11; 49:11; Isa. 25:6; Jer. 40:10, 12; from pomegranates, Song 8:2. Kept in jars, Jer. 13:12; 48:12; in skins, Josh. 9:4, 13; Job 32:19; Matt. 9:17; Luke 5:37, 38; in bottles, Josh. 9:4, 13; Jo...

  • Sin-offering

    [ebd] (Heb. hattath), the law of, is given in detail in Lev. 4-6:13; 9:7-11, 22-24; 12:6-8; 15:2, 14, 25-30; 14:19, 31; Num. 6:10-14. On the day of Atonement it was made with special solemnity (Lev. 16:5, 11, 15). The blood was th...

  • Razor

    [ebd] The Nazarites were forbidden to make use of the razor (Num. 6:5; Judg. 13:5). At their consecration the Levites were shaved all over with a razor (Num. 8:7; comp. Ps. 52:2; Ezek. 5:1).
    [isbe] RAZOR - ra'-zer (ta`ar, "knife" (Nu 6:5; Ps 52:2; Isa 7:20; Ezek 5:1), morah, "razor" (Jdg 13:5; 16:17; 1 Sam 1:11)). See BARBER; HAIR.
    [smith] Besides other usages, the practice of shaving the head after the completion of a vow must have created among the Jews a necessity for the special trade of a barber. (Leviticus 14:8; Numbers 6:9,18; 8:7; Judges 13:5; Isaiah 7:...
    [nave] RAZOR, Nazirite forbidden to use, Num. 6:5. Figurative Psa. 52:2; Isa. 7:20; Ezek. 5:1.

  • Shaving

    [isbe] SHAVING - shav'-ing (in Job 1:20, gazaz, usually galach; in Acts 21:24, xurao): Customs as to shaving differ in different countries, and in ancient and modern times. Among the Egyptians it was customary to shave the whole bo...
    [nave] SHAVING Forbidden to Nazirites, Num. 6:5; Judg. 13:5; to priests, Ezek. 44:20. See: Beard.

  • CONSECRATE; CONSECRATION

    [isbe] CONSECRATE; CONSECRATION - kon'-se-krat, kon-se-kra'-shun. 1. In the Old Testament: In the Old Testament for several Hebrew words of different meanings: (1) charam: "I will consecrate (the Revised Version (British and Americ...

  • KNIFE

    [smith] The knives of the Egyptians, and of other nations in early times, were probably only of hard stone, and the use of the flint or stone knife was sometimes retained for sacred purposes after the introduction of iron and steel....

  • CORPSE

    [isbe] CORPSE - korps: This word in the King James Version is the translations of two Hebrew words, pegher, and gewiyah, while nebhelah, and guphah, which mean the same, are translated "body," with which the English word "corpse" (...

  • BODY

    [isbe] BODY - bod'-i: I. PHILOLOGICAL: Generally speaking, the Old Testament language employs no fixed term for the human body as an entire organism in exact opposition to "soul" or "spirit." Various terms were employed, each of wh...

  • Purification

    [ebd] the process by which a person unclean, according to the Levitical law, and thereby cut off from the sanctuary and the festivals, was restored to the enjoyment of all these privileges. The great annual purification of the peo...

  • Abstinence, Total

    [nave] ABSTINENCE, TOTAL. From Intoxicating Beverages Lev. 10:8-10; Num. 6:3, 4; Judg. 13:4, 13-14; Esth. 1:8; Prov. 23:20, 31, 32; Prov. 31:4; Jer. 35:6-8, 14; Luke 1:15 See: Temperance. Instances of Israelites in the wilderne...

  • Dead Body

    [nave] DEAD BODY Gen. 15:11; Lev. 21:11; 22:4; 26:30; Num. 5:2; 6:6, 11; 9:6, 6, 7, 10; 14:29, 32, 33; 19:11, 13; 1 Sam. 17:46, 31:10; 2 Kin. 19:35; 2 Chr. 20:24, 25; Psa. 110:6; Isa. 14:19; 34:3; 37:36; 66:24; Jer. 31:40; 33:5; 41...
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Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • The structure of 4:1-6:7 indicates that this offering has a close relationship to the sin offering. This offering removed the guilt of certain sins that involved trespassing against God. Trespassing means going beyond the lim...
  • To formulate a statement that summarizes the teaching of this book it will be helpful to identify some of the major revelations in Numbers. These constitute the unique values of the book.The first major value of Numbers is th...
  • I. Experiences of the older generation in the wilderness chs. 1-25A. Preparations for entering the Promised Land from the south chs. 1-101. The first census and the organization of the people chs. 1-42. Commands and rituals t...
  • The emphasis in this section continues to be on the importance of maintaining purity in the camp so God's blessing on Israel might continue unabated.The Nazarite (from the Hebrew root nazar, meaning "to separate") illustrated...
  • The location of this blessing in this context indicates that one of the priest's central tasks was to be a source of blessing for God's people.61This blessing, like the preceding Nazirite legislation, deals with the purificat...
  • The revelation of ordinances and instructions designed to enhance the spiritual sanctification of the Israelites as they journeyed on to the Promised Land ends with chapter 6. The narrative of events that transpired just befo...
  • The Angel of the Lord again appeared (cf. 6:11). This time He announced to a barren Danite woman that she would bear a son (cf. Gen. 16:11; Luke 1:26-38). Samson's birth by a barren woman indicated God's supernatural provisio...
  • The first recorded indication of Samson's superhuman strength is his ability to tear the lion apart with his bare hands (v. 6). A young lion tried to leap on Samson (v. 5), but instead the Spirit of the Lord leaped upon him (...
  • It was customary among the Philistines for a seven-day feast to precede the actual wedding ceremony (v. 10). In Samson's case the groom provided this feast, and it took place at the bride's home. It is most probable that duri...
  • 7:29 The people were to cut off their hair as a sign of grief."The command to cut off the hair' (lit., crown' . . .) is in the feminine in Hebrew, showing that the city (cf. 6:23--'O Daughter of Zion') is meant. The charge st...
  • 2:10 Another prophecy came from the Lord on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of 520 B.C. (Kislev 24, December 18). During the two months between this prophecy and the former one (vv. 1-9), Zechariah began his ministry...
  • 1:8-9 Zechariah was serving God faithfully by discharging some temple function as a member of his priestly division. There were so many priests then that the great privilege of offering incense on the golden incense altar in ...
  • Paul had attempted to reach the province of Asia earlier (16:6). Now the Lord permitted him to go there but from the west rather than from the east. Luke recorded his initial contact in Ephesus in this section to set the scen...
  • 21:17-19 As he had done before, Paul related to a group of elders what God had done on his missionary journeys among the Gentiles (14:27; cf. 18:23). This undoubtedly helped the Jerusalem church accept the gift that Paul had ...
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