Deeper Commentary
Num 6:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying-
Any Israelite could vow him or herself to special service to God; we
too shouldn’t see our service to God in terms of doing the minimum.
Realizing the wonder of His grace and the certainty of our eternal life in
His Kingdom, we should be moved to special devotions. In this vow, the
ordinary Israelite willingly submitted to some of the regulations specific
to the priests on duty. The growing of long hair could be seen as an
imitation of the High Priest’s mitre. They were not to see the priesthood
as something reserved just for specialists, those born into it; nor were
they to see the High Priest as so distant from themselves that he could
never be imitated, in spirit at least. We likewise can take to ourselves
some aspects of the personal work of the Lord Jesus; for all that is true
of Him becomes true of us who are baptized into Him. As He was the light
of the world, so are we to be.
Num 6:2 Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: ‘When either man
or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate
himself to Yahweh,-
See on Dt. 6:23. The vow of Naziriteship was voluntary, and yet
Am. 2:11 says that God raised up young men to be Nazirites. Here we see
the profound interplay between human freewill and Divine intervention,
setting up possibilities for our freewill response which are effectively a
calling to specific acts of freewill obedience. And the most well known
Nazirites, Samuel (1 Sam. 1:11) and Samson (Jud. 13) were chosen to be
Nazirites before their birth.
A woman could also be a Nazirite. For a woman to shave her head was otherwise understood as an act of shame (cp. Num. 5:18; 1 Cor. 11:6). But making this freewill commitment involved them doing something which in the eyes of society was shameful and foolish. The essence of that is seen to this day- to give your savings to another is seen as foolish, to fellowship with the despised and rejected is seen as shameful.
Num 6:3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He
shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of fermented drink, neither
shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried-
This was the requirement for priests on duty (Lev. 10:9). Through Naziriteship, the ordinary Israelite, including women, could act as the priests. And further, the long hair recalled the High Priestly mitre- the invitation was to act in the spirit of the High Priest, just as we are asked to replicate the essence of the saving, mediatorial work of Jesus in our lives and service. The word for the "crown" of the High Priest is from the same root, nzr, as the word 'Nazirite'.
The Nazarite was separated from wine, because he was separated unto the Lord (Num. 6:2,3). The meaning of ‘holiness’ is both to be separated from and separated unto. Separation isn’t only something negative; it’s more essentially something positive. We are separated from this world because we are separated unto the things of God’s Kingdom; the separation from is a natural, unpretended outcome of our involvement in the things of God’s Kingdom. It’s not part of a cross which the believer must reluctantly, sacrificially bare.
Num 6:4 All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is
made of the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins-
See on :3. The grapes had no alcohol content. The same is true of the seeds or skins. But here is the classic fence around the law, forbidding something which is not wrong of itself in order to prevent developing even the mental association with the sinful / forbidden, or the suggestion of it. And here we see a bridge across the centuries to our age- in seeking to avoid temptation or disobedience, we are to carefully avoid those things which may suggest the temptation to us. What we watch or read therefore becomes no innocent choice for any of us. The same fence around the law is seen in the command to Samson's mother not to drink wine because her son was to be a Nazirite and bound by the same law. The behaviour of the mother in pregnancy was therefore seen as a possible influence upon the behaviour of the as yet unborn child (Jud. 13:7).
To view these regulations are irritating fences around a law is however somewhat negative, true enough as it is. Making vows was part of most of the surrounding religions, many of which involved extreme asceticism, with those making the vows seeking to outdo each other with the extremity of their self-denial. It has never been God's intention that serving Him should mutate into religious extremism and fanatic asceticism. The regulations upon the Nazirite could therefore be seen as a wise limitation upon the human tendency towards religious extremism. In comparing with other religious vows of the time, they nearly all involved abstinence from sex and time spent daily in religious devotions and rituals. It's significant that the Nazirite vow contrasts sharply with this- for there is a notable absence of any such regulations or demands. God intended that the spirit of special devotion to Him should be lived out within the course of normal, daily human life- rather than some special hived-off existence with a focus upon ritual and externalities.
Num 6:5 All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall come
on his head, until the days are fulfilled, in which he separates himself
to Yahweh. He shall be holy-
The word for 'Nazirite' can mean 'crowned' and the long hair on the
crown of his head was to be seen as a connection with the mitre / crown of
the High Priest. This ability to rise up to the spirit of the High Priest
himself looks ahead to our ambition to be as the Lord Jesus in this world-
devoted to bringing about the salvation of others. The height of the
calling is far beyond mere religion, whereby we are mere spectators at a
show. We are to have the spirit of Christ, to be as Him to this world.
He shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long-
LXX "cherishing the long hair of the head". Samson ultimately
cherished or valued his relationship with Delilah above the hair of his
Nazirite vow. The Hebrew can imply 'growing wild'. Hair styling was
important for ancient people; the idea was that what looks unattractive to
man is often what is attractive to God, and the sign we are dedicated to
Him. And that is an abiding principle.
Num 6:6 All the days that he separates himself to Yahweh he shall not go
near a dead body-
The Nazirite was not only to not touch a corpse, but not to go near
one, because they were acting like priests (Lev. 21:10-22); likewise they were not only to not drink wine, but to not drink grape
juice nor eat seeds or skins of grapes, from which wine is made. This is
the classic ‘hedge around the law’- forbidding something not because it is
unlawful of itself but because the associations may lead to breaking an
actual law. We in Christ are freed from all legalism and casuistry; and
yet in our daily struggle against temptation, it’s no bad idea to remove
far from us those things, subliminal associations, images etc. which may stimulate
temptation and the power of sin.
Num 6:7 He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his
mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die-
The Nazirites is again under the same legislation as the High Priest
(Lev. 21:11), to whom he was aspiring. We too are asked to aspire to the
Lord Jesus; the veil was torn down so that we might enter in to the most
holy, just as the High Priest did. And we do so as he did, for the sake of
seeking the salvation of others. The usual form of mourning involved embracing the corpse of the
deceased. Hence this would make the person unclean. The Lord seems to
allude to this in Mt. 10:37. Devotion to Him must come before family
relationships. It's as if He saw the spirit of the Nazirite vow as
characterizing all who would believe in Him. We are all to go forward and
serve God on our own initiative.
God doesn’t advertise His concessions to human weakness (and neither
should we). He leads men to attempt life on the highest level. And so Num.
6:7 speaks as if a man couldn’t make himself unclean and end his
vow, whereas in fact there was legislation which allowed him to take this
lower level. But the Father doesn’t want us to be minimalists, serving Him
at the lowest level; quite to the contrary.
Num 6:8 All the days of his separation he is holy to Yahweh-
Paul was called to be a preacher of the Gospel, and yet he speaks of his
work as a preacher as if it were a Nazarite vow- which was a totally
voluntary commitment. Consider not only the reference to him shaving his
head because of his vow (Acts 18:18; 21:24 cp. Num. 6:9-18), but also the
many descriptions of his preaching work in terms of Naziriteship:
Separated unto the Gospel’s work (Rom. 1:1; Gal. 1:15; Acts 13:2); “I am
not yet consecrated / perfected” (Phil. 3:12)- he’d not yet finished his
‘course’, i.e. his preaching commission. He speaks of it here as if it
were a Nazarite vow not yet ended. Note the reference to Paul’s
‘consecration’ in Acts 20:24. His undertaking not to drink wine lest he
offend others (Rom. 14:21) is framed in the very words of Num. 6:3 LXX
about the Nazarite. Likewise his being ‘joined unto the Lord’ (1 Cor.
6:17; Rom. 14:6,8) is the language of Num. 6:6 about the Nazarite being
separated unto the Lord. The reference to having power / authority on the
head (1 Cor. 11:10) is definitely some reference back to the LXX of Num.
6:7 about the Nazarite. What are we to make of all this? The point is
perhaps that commitment to active missionary work is indeed a voluntary
matter, as was the Nazarite vow. And that even although Paul was called to
this, yet he responded to it by voluntarily binding himself to ‘get the
job done’. And the same is in essence true for us today in our various
callings in the Lord’s service.
Num 6:9 If any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles the head
of his separation, then he shall shave his head in the day of his
cleansing. On the seventh day he shall shave it-
LXX "And if any one should die suddenly by him, immediately the
head of his vow shall be defiled; and he shall shave his head in whatever
day he shall be purified: on the seventh day he shall be shaved". The idea seems to be that he sinned in connection with the death of
the person, "the things wherein he sinned respecting the dead body" (:11
LXX). I suggest the idea is that he touched a dead body in ignorance. The
'sin' was like the sin of ignorance- he had promised a certain period of
service, and he couldn't fulfil it. The idea is that sins of ignorance are
still sins; and this is an abiding principle, which inspires us to ever
seek to know the Lord's mind and will the more. Although in this case we
note that he didn't have to offer an animal for a sin offering but just
birds (:10). We wonder however whether Samson's contact with dead bodies
negated his Naziriteship; for he told Delilah that he had always been a
Nazirite. It seems Samson thought that he was within the spirit of the law
in this matter although he broke the letter of it. That was true, as it
was with David acting as a priest... but unrestrained, that principle led
both Samson and David into actual sin.
Num 6:10 On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young
pigeons to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting-
Even within the bird offerings there was a gradation. Turtledoves
were larger than pigeons and more valuable, but they are only in Israel at
certain times of the year; whereas pigeons are in Israel all year round,
were easier to catch and were therefore cheaper. The various possible
levels within God's law reflect our opportunities to serve on different
levels, just as the good soil of the sower parable brings forth different
amounts. Some will make more of God's truth than others. The very
existence of these levels, rather than a simple binary demand of obedience
/ disobedience, pass / fail, of itself inspires us to serve God as
extensively as we can. For who can be a minimalist in response to His
love.
Num 6:11 The priest shall offer one for a sin offering, and the other for
a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason
of the dead, and shall make his head holy that same day-
It hardly sounds sinful for a person who has made a special
dedication to God to be made unclean by a person unexpectedly falling dead
next to him or her. But in this legislation God is seeking to teach us how
sensitive He is to uncleanness. This principle can carry over into our
lives today; if we love to view, read and talk about unclean things, even
if we don’t do them, then we are not respecting the distance which God
seeks to set between the clean and unclean, right and wrong, good and
evil.
Num 6:12 He shall consecrate to Yahweh the days of his separation, and
shall bring a male lamb a year old for a trespass offering; but the former
days shall be void, because his separation was defiled-
This was to remind them that the Passover deliverance through the
lamb was effectively ongoing. The Passover lamb was likewise to be a year
old (Ex. 12:5). We too are to live constantly under the impression of the
Lord's sacrifice and redemption of us. Israel were asked to use a lamb of
the first year to record various times when they should be thankful for
God's redemption of them in the events which comprise life (Lev. 9:3;
12:6; 23:12,18,19; Num. 6:12,14; 7:15,17,21; 28:3,9,11,19; 29:2,8,13).
This was to continually recall to them the events of their great
redemption through the Red Sea. And the essence of our redemption, our
baptism and salvation through the blood of the lamb, must likewise be
brought ever before us.
Num 6:13 This is the law of the Nazirite: when the days of his separation
are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the Tent of Meeting,-
The laws concerning breaking the Nazirite vow are detailed, and the
sacrifices required were expensive with no legislation allowing a cheaper
offering if the Nazirite was poor. The lesson can simply be that the fact
we make what appears to be an 'extra' commitment to God's service doesn't
thereby free us from being obedient to His principles in other areas. Our
commitments are all the same to be governed by His principles. The costly
sacrifice required at the end of the Nazarite vow was perhaps to teach
that the person wishing to take the vow must take this into account to
begin with when considering making the vow- hence the teaching that a vow
should not be made rashly (Prov. 20:25). The sin offering (:14) suggests
the principle of Lk. 17:10 was being taught here- "When you shall have
done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable
servants". There was to be no spiritual pride in commitment made
apparently over and above God's minimal requirements. The language of
"have done all those things which are commanded" recalls the language of
the priests and Moses doing all things which were commanded them under the
old covenant (Ex. 29:35; Lev. 8:36; Dt. 1:18). Lk. 17:10 would therefore
be hinting that even complete obedience to God's law was not of itself
enough to make a man profitable unto God, which was something Job likewise
concluded (Job 22:2). And the legislation about concluding the Nazarite
vow was teaching the same. Over Israel's extra-Biblical history, the
Nazirite vow became abused into part of a bargain with God. Josephus
records: "It is customary for those suffering from illness or other
affliction to make a vow to abstain from wine and to shave their head
during the thirty days preceding that on which they must offer their
sacrifices" (Wars 2.15.1). And our mentality can be the same- we do freewill work or commitment to the Lord but with the unspoken understanding that if we do this, then He is somehow bound to help us in our need. But the spirit of the vow is of voluntary devotion to the Lord from a pure motive of gratitude.
Num 6:14 and he shall offer his offering to Yahweh, one male lamb a year
old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old
without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace
offerings-
No animal actually is without blemish. God recognizes that we will not
attain perfection in this life, but we are to do our best towards it; and
His love imputes righteousness to us, counting us as unblemished because
of our status in Christ. For only Christ was the sacrifice totally without
moral blemish (1 Pet. 1:19).
Num 6:15 and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with
oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their grain offering,
and their drink offerings-
These points are laboured, lest the Nazirite think that because he had
made a freewill devotion to God, he was somehow free to make the offerings
at the end of the period in a slapdash way. This is quite a theme of the
Mosaic law, and is an abiding principle- that freewill 'extra' devotions
to the Lord don't free us from observing His standards and requirements.
Num 6:16 The priest shall present them before Yahweh, and shall offer his
sin offering, and his burnt offering-
The need for a sin offering at the end of his period of dedication
was maybe to remind him that his extra special devotion didn’t take away
his sin and need for grace; for relationship with God depends upon this
rather than upon our works and special efforts. Again, we can take that
principle to ourselves in our age.
Num 6:17 He shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings to
Yahweh, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also
its grain offering, and its drink offering-
Judaism allowed people to enable others to be Nazirites by bearing
the expenses of these sacrifices. It could be argued that this was a
departure from the letter of the law here. But Paul went along with it
(Acts 21:23-26) because it was in the spirit of the law.
Num 6:18 The Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the door
of the Tent of Meeting, and shall take the hair of the head of his
separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace
offerings-
Num 6:19 The priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one
unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put
them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the head of his
separation-
The idea is that the priest's hands were to be over the hands of the
offerer when these things were waved or swung before Yahweh; see on :20.
Num 6:20 and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh.
This is holy for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and
the thigh that is offered. After that the Nazirite may drink wine-
The portion to be waved was placed on the priests hands (Ex. 29:25),
and then 'waved' or 'swung' towards the altar and then back- not from
right to left. The idea was that the offerings were first given to God,
recognizing they should be consumed on the altar to God; but then given
back to the priest by God. So they ate them having first recognized that
their food was really God's, all was of Him, and He had given it back to
them to eat. This should be our spirit in partaking of any food, as we are
the new priesthood. Our prayers of thanks for daily food should include
this feature. All things are God's and anything we 'offer' to Him is only
giving Him what He has given to us (1 Chron. 29:14,16).
Num 6:21 This is the law of the Nazirite who vows, and of his
offering to Yahweh for his separation, besides that which he is able to
put his hand on. According to his vow which he vows, so he must do after
the law of his separation’-
The implication might be that a person was to do as undertaken in the
Nazirite vow. Likewise we read of detailed consequences if a person vowed
to Yahweh and then changed their mind. Commitment to Him was not to be
entered into lightly, and never for the sake of mere appearance before
men.
Num 6:22 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying-
Num 6:23 Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘This is how you shall
bless the children of Israel’. You shall tell them-
Prayer is no simply specific words of request to God. When the
priests in Hezekiah's time blessed the people, "their prayer came up to
(God), even unto heaven" (2 Chron. 30:27). But the blessing of the people
was not a prayer to God, but words spoken by the priests to the people:
"(May) The Lord bless you, and keep you: the Lord make his face shine upon
you..." (Num. 6:24,25). Yet God saw these words of the priests as a
prayer. It's rather like us saying 'God bless you' to a brother as we
leave his house; God may read this as a prayer, and do something about it.
But this isn't how
we conceive of prayer. Consider too
how the faithful speaking spiritually to each other was treated
by God as a prayer to Him (Mal. 3:16).
The following blessing could be understood as a specific blessing upon the Nazirite, and yet it appears a standard blessing of all the people. This was because it was God's intention that all the people should be as Nazirites to Him. And the allusions to the Nazirite vow in the New Testament likewise suggest all Christians are to live in the spirit of the Nazirite vow.
Num 6:24 ‘Yahweh bless you-
Blessing is so often associated with forgiveness of sins, and
'keeping' often refers to being kept in the way to life. We see here the
possibility of forgiveness for the sake of the prayer and blessing of a
third party, in this case the priests who were blessing the people.
There's another example in Mk. 2:5; James 5:20. It could be that the
reference to blessing is a desire for the promised blessings to Abraham to
come true, and they involved keeping Israel in the way to the Kingdom, and
giving them grace. This is how those promises are often interpreted in the
New Testament.
And keep you-
This is the word so often used for "diligently observing" Yahweh's
commandments is from the word meaning a thorn hedge; the idea originally
was to hedge in. Taking this too literally led Judaism to all their
endless fences around the law, i.e. forbidding this or that because it
might lead to doing that or this, which in turn would then lead to
breaking an actual commandment. And those various fences become elevated
to the level of commandments. But this is not the idea. We are indeed to
hedge ourselves in ("take heed to yourself", Dt. 11:16; 12:13,19,30,32
s.w.), so that we may keep / hedge ourselves in to keep the commandments
of God (Lev. 18:4,5,26,30; 19:19,37; 20:8,22; 22:9,31; 25:18; 26:3; Num.
28:2; Dt. 7:11,12; 8:1,11 [s.w. "beware"]; 10:13;
11:1,8,22,32; 12:1; 13:4,18; ; 15:5,9 ["beware"]; 17:19; 19:9; 23:9
["keep yourself"]; 24:8; 26:16-18; 27:1; 28:1,9,13; 29:9; 30:10,16; 31:12;
32:46). And without falling into the legalism of Judaism, self discipline
does require a degree of fencing ourselves in to the one way. Thus the man
struggling with alcoholism avoids the supermarket where alcohol is pushed
in front of the eyes of the shoppers; the married woman struggling with
attraction to another man makes little laws for herself about avoiding his
company. And if we do this, then the Lord will "keep" us, will hedge us in
to keeping His way (s.w. Num. 6:24).
Num 6:25 Yahweh make His face to shine on you, and be gracious to you-
God's face shining suggests fellowship and acceptance with Him. The
receipt of God's grace can therefore be
possible on account of the work and wish of a third party; see on
:24. This has huge implications for our pastoral work and prayer life in
connection with others.
Moses couldn't see the direct glory / face of God, he was
covered by God's hand and only saw God's back. Perhaps this in turn is
reflected by how God hid His glory from Israel through the veil on Moses'
face. But thereby they were encouraged to aspire to the place of Moses on
the mountain, hidden from God's full glory but nonetheless seeing some of
it. It cannot be that the High Priestly blessing lacks reference to Moses'
shining face: “May Yahweh make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious
to you” (Num. 6:25). The shining of His face spoke of the experience of
grace, just as the revelation of God's Name and physical glory to Moses
had spoken of His grace to Israel, forgiving the impenitent, those who had
committed adultery on their wedding night to Yahweh. And He thereby gave
them peace, the peace from knowing His grace and forgiveness. Ps. 80:4
connects the shining of God's face with restoration and salvation- which
is the exact context here, where the covenant has been restored by grace
and Israel saved from destruction as God's people: “O God, restore us! And
make your face shine that we might be saved!”. But the vision of that
face, that grace, was veiled to them. The High Priestly blessing was
therefore a wish that they would see beyond the veil to Yahweh's actual
glory, and not be scared by grace. This wish and intention comes to full
term in our beholding with unveiled face the glory of the Lord Jesus, far
greater than the glory Moses saw.
Num 6:26 Yahweh lift up His face toward you, and give you peace’-
Peace is so often peace with God through forgiveness, as a result of
which Yahweh's face can as it were be felt. But this was due to the
blessing of third parties, the priests. See on :24,25. Moses had been
shown that Yahweh's face could not be seen. But here and in :25 there is
the promise of beholding His face. Perhaps there is therefore implicit in
this language the promise of being blessed and directed on their daily
journeys to the end that finally, in the Kingdom, they would literally
behold His face. This is the end destination of our every step through the
wilderness.
Num 6:27 So they shall put My name on the children of Israel; and I will
bless them-
As noted on :24-26, the priests were wishing for Israel to be blessed with
forgiveness and thereby fellowship with God, and His final salvation-
seeing His face. But this would only be due to righteousness being imputed
to them. All the great things of His Name, His characteristics, were to be
counted to them, through His Name being placed upon them. We experience
the same through baptism into the Name and abide in it.
The vulnerability and sensitivity of God is reflected in the way that
He is concerned that His covenant people, His wife, who bears His Name,
might profane His Name (Lev. 19:12; Ex. 20:7; Dt. 5:11). His repeated
concern that His Name be taken in vain doesn't simply refer to the casual
use of the word "God" as an expression of exasperation. God is concerned
about His people taking His Name upon themselves (Num. 6:27) in vain-
i.e., marrying Him, entering covenant relationship with Him, taking on His
Name- but not being serious about that relationship, taking it on as a
vain thing, like a woman who casually marries a man who loves her at the
very core of his being, when for her, it's just a casual thing and she
lives a profligate and adulterous life as his wife. When God revealed His
Name to His people, opening up the very essence of His character to them,
He was making Himself vulnerable. We reveal ourselves intimately to
another because we wish for them to make a response to us, to love us for
what we revealed to them. God revealed Himself to Israel, He sought for
intimacy in the covenant relationship, and therefore was and is all the
more hurt when His people turn away from Him, after having revealed to
them all the wonders of His word (Hos. 8:12).
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