Numbers 6
11 Sep 2026 - Theology
The Nazirite
Exodus 19:6 - “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.”
Every Israelite was considered to be a priest. We talked about what this means in our preview of Leviticus. There were times when some Israelites felt especially grateful to the Lord or wanted to grow closer to the Lord.
This was a matter of purity. Getting “closer” to the Lord meant becoming more like priests - those who could serve in the Tabernacle - so becoming purer also meant behaving more like priests. A person who pledged to get closer to the Lord was called a Nazir or Nazirite, one who is “set apart” or “dedicated”.
A Nazirite man or woman vowed not to drink wine or liquor - not even to eat grapes.
Numbers 6:3-4 - “He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.”
No razor could touch a Nazirite’s hair; it had to grow long an untrimmed. This separated the Nazirites from the priests, who let their hair grow long, but trimmed it regularly.
Numbers 6:5 - “All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.”
A Nazirite also vowed not to come near the dead - even if a parent or a sibling died.
Numbers 6:6-7 - “All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come at no dead body. He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head.”
We know from other books of the Bible and later history that Nazirites were common in Israel. People usually vowed to become Nazirites for a limited amount of time, but a pregnant women might vow her child-to-be as a Nazirite for a lifetime.
Numbers 6:8 - “All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord.”
In verses 13-21, we see the ritual for what a person must do when their time of being a Nazirite is completed (if it is temporary):
Numbers 6:13-21 - “And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he [along with many offerings] shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation… And the priest shall bring them [the offerings] before the Lord… And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire… and after that the Nazarite may drink wine.”
The Priestly Blessing
Numbers 6:22-27 - “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”
The three-part Priestly Blessing is among our most ancient prayers. The Torah teaches: It is commanded by the Lord, pronounced by the priests, and carried out by the Lord. It joins the name of the Lord to the people of Israel.
References
- The Hebrew - Greek Key Study Bible (KJV Version)
- The Torah Portion-by-Portion by Rabbi Seymour Rossel (2007)