The Nazarite commitment
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| 1 ¶ And the LORD spake
unto Moses, saying,
.2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD: .3 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. |
The principles of the Nazarrite
commitment are worth our consideration.
3 - Wine See the word in ge1418, ge2725, jg1919, 2sa1602, am0511, am0914. 3 - Strong drink That is, intoxicating drink. 3 - Liquor of grapes Or "grape juice." Any drink made from fresh grapes. |
| 4 All the days of his
separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the
kernels even to the husk.
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. 6 All the days that he separateth himself unto the LORD he shall come at no dead body. 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 the consecration of his God is upon his head. 8 All the days of his separation he is holy unto the LORD. |
4 -
Vine tree Apparently "complete vine."
4 - Kernels ... husk The meaning of these Hebrew words is uncertain. Considering the context, the NIV looks like a good translation: "As long as he is a Nazarite, he must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins" 5 - No razor For example, Samson jg1305, nu0807. Also le2105, 1sa0111. 6 - No dead body Literally "the soul of the body." See on nu0502 and ge3518. Samson violated his oath on this, too. jg1419, jg1518. |
| 9 And if any man die
very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration;
then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh
day shall he shave it.
10 And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: 11 And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day. 12 And he shall consecrate unto the LORD the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled. 12 - And he shall set apart to the LORD the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a guilt offering. But the former days shall be lost, because his separation was defiled. (MKJV) |
9 -
Man die ... defiled Contact with a dead person caused defilement
v6. Although it was not the guilt of the man with a vow, special atonement
was needed for the Nazarite. Even "hidden" or unintentional sin was as
serious ps01912,
ps09008.
9 - His cleansing Water with ashes of the red heifer were sprinkled as part of this ceremony nu19. 10 - Two turtles Or "two turtledoves" or "two young pigeons." 11 - Sin offering To remove the defilement. Compare le1206, le1419, le1515. Thus "sinned" would mean having been defiled. 12 - Consecrate Now ceremonially clean he began again the whole period of his vow. 12 - Lamb Guilt is always associated with the trespass offering. See le0515. |
| 13 And this is the law
of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall
be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:
14 And he shall offer his offering unto the LORD, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings, .15 And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings. |
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| 16 And the priest shall
bring them before the LORD, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt
offering:
17 And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his meat offering, and his drink offering. |
16,17 - Priest shall bring ... sin ... burnt ... peace Three types: Sin offerings were for removal of defilement for consecration of priests ex2901, le0802, nu0808, and as here le1206, le1419. Dedication was indicated by the burnt offering, and the peace offering was for times of restitution or thanksgiving. |
| 18 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 which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings.
19 And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after the hair of his separation is shaven: 20 And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder: and after that the Nazarite may drink wine. 21 This is the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed, and of his offering unto the LORD for his separation, beside that that his hand shall get: according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation. |
18,19 - At the door ... take "The hair was permitted to grow for this purpose; and as the Nazarite was a kind of sacrifice, offered to God through the whole term of his nazarate or separation, and no human flesh or blood could be offered on the altar of the Lord, he offered his hair at the conclusion of his separation, as a sacrifice-that hair which was the token of his complete subjection to the Lord, and which was now considered as the Lord's property." (Clarke). |
| 22 ¶ And the LORD spake
unto Moses, saying,
23 Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, .24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: .25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: .26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. 27 And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them. |
A beautiful blessing for us to pass on. |
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