Numbers 6
Lexham English Bible
Rules Concerning Nazirites
6 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the Israelites[a] and say to them, ‘When a man or a woman takes a special vow, a vow of a Nazirite,[b] to keep separate for Yahweh, 3 he will abstain from wine and fermented drink; he will not drink wine vinegar or vinegar of fermented drink; he will not drink the fruit juice of grapes or eat fresh or dry grapes. 4 All the days of his separation[c] you will not eat from anything that is made from the grapevine, from sour grapes to the skin of grapes.
5 “‘All the days of the vow of his separation a razor will not pass over his head. Until fulfilling the days that he separated himself to Yahweh he will be holy and grow long the locks of the hair of his head.
6 “‘All the days of keeping himself separated for Yahweh he will not go to a person who is dead; 7 for even his father, mother, brother, or sister he will not make himself unclean by their death,[d] because the separation to his God is on his head. 8 He will be holy for Yahweh all the days of his separation.[e]
9 “‘If someone dies suddenly and makes the head of his separation[f] unclean, he will shave off the hair of his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he will shave it off. 10 On the eighth day he will bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons[g] to the priest by the doorway of the tent of assembly, 11 and the priest will offer one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering, and he will make atonement for him because he sinned concerning the corpse. He will consecrate his head on that day. 12 He will rededicate to Yahweh the days of his separation[h] and bring a ram-lamb in its first year[i] as a guilt offering. The former days of his vow will fall away because his separation was defiled.
13 “‘This is the regulation of the Nazirite for the day of the fulfilling of the days of his separation: one will bring him to the doorway of the tent of the assembly. 14 He will present his offering to Yahweh, one ram-lamb in its first year[j] without defect as a burnt offering, and one ewe-lamb in its first year[k] without defect as a sin offering, and one ram without defect as a fellowship offering; 15 and a basket of unleavened bread, finely milled flour of ring-shaped bread cakes mixed with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread smeared with oil, and their grain offering and their libations. 16 The priest will present before Yahweh[l] and offer his sin offering, his burnt offering; 17 he will offer a ram as a sacrifice of a fellowship offering to Yahweh, in addition to the basket of the unleavened bread; the priest will offer his grain offering and his libation. 18 The Nazirite will shave off the hair of his consecrated head[m] at the doorway of the tent of assembly, and he will take the hair of his consecrated head,[n] and he will put it on the fire that is beneath the sacrifice of the fellowship offering. 19 The priest will take the shoulder from the ram that is boiled, and one ring-shaped bread cake of unleavened bread from the basket, and one wafer of unleavened bread, and he will put them on the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated head.[o] 20 The priest will wave them as a wave offering before the presence of[p] Yahweh; they[q] are a holy object to the priest, in addition to the breast section of the wave offering, and in addition to the upper thigh of the contribution; and afterward the Nazirite may drink wine.
21 “‘This is the regulation of the Nazirite who has made a vow of his offering to Yahweh according to his separation, in addition to what he can afford.[r] In accordance to the word of his vow that he vowed, he will do, concerning the instruction of his separation.’”
The Priestly Blessing
22 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘You will bless the Israelites:[s] You will say to them:
24 Yahweh will bless you
and keep you;
25 Yahweh will make shine his face on you
and be gracious to you;
26 Yahweh will lift up his face upon you,
and he will give you peace.’
27 And they will put my name on the Israelites,[t] and I will bless them.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 6:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 6:2 Literally “one separated”
- Numbers 6:4 That is, “the Nazirite”
- Numbers 6:7 Literally “with their dying”
- Numbers 6:8 That is, “the Nazirite”
- Numbers 6:9 That is, “the Nazirite”
- Numbers 6:10 Literally “the sons of doves”
- Numbers 6:12 That is, “the Nazirite”
- Numbers 6:12 Literally “a son of his year”
- Numbers 6:14 Literally “a son of his year”
- Numbers 6:14 Literally “a daughter of his year”
- Numbers 6:16 Or “before the face of Yahweh”
- Numbers 6:18 Literally “the head of his separation”
- Numbers 6:18 Literally “the head of his separation”
- Numbers 6:19 Literally “his separation”
- Numbers 6:20 Literally “before the face of”
- Numbers 6:20 Hebrew “it”
- Numbers 6:21 Literally “except from that which overtakes his hand”
- Numbers 6:23 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 6:27 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
Numbers 6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 6
Laws Concerning Nazirites. 1 The Lord said to Moses: 2 Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When men or women solemnly take the nazirite[a] vow to dedicate themselves to the Lord, 3 they shall abstain from wine and strong drink;(A) they may neither drink wine vinegar, other vinegar, or any kind of grape juice, nor eat either fresh or dried grapes. 4 As long as they are nazirites they shall not eat anything of the produce of the grapevine; not even the seeds or the skins. 5 While they are under the nazirite vow, no razor shall touch their hair.(B) Until the period of their dedication to the Lord is over, they shall be holy, letting the hair of their heads grow freely. 6 As long as they are dedicated to the Lord, they shall not come near a dead person.(C) 7 Not even for their father or mother, sister or brother, should they defile themselves, when these die, since their heads bear their dedication to God. 8 As long as they are nazirites they are holy to the Lord.
9 If someone dies very suddenly in their presence, defiling their dedicated heads, they shall shave their heads on the day of their purification, that is, on the seventh day. 10 On the eighth day they shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 11 The priest shall offer up the one as a purification offering and the other as a burnt offering, thus making atonement for them for the sin they committed with respect to the corpse. On the same day they shall reconsecrate their heads 12 and rededicate themselves to the Lord for the period of their dedication, bringing a yearling lamb as a reparation offering. The previous period is not valid, because they defiled their dedicated heads.
13 This is the ritual for the nazirites:(D) When the period of their dedication is complete they shall go to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 14 bringing their offerings to the Lord, one unblemished yearling lamb for a burnt offering, one unblemished yearling ewe lamb for a purification offering, one unblemished ram as a communion offering, 15 and a basket of unleavened cakes of bran flour mixed with oil and of unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with their grain offerings and libations. 16 The priest shall present them before the Lord, and shall offer up the purification offering and the burnt offering for them. 17 He shall then offer up the ram as a communion sacrifice to the Lord, along with the basket of unleavened cakes, and the priest will offer the grain offering and libation. 18 Then at the entrance of the tent of meeting the nazirite shall shave his or her dedicated head, take the hair of the dedicated head, and put it in the fire under the communion sacrifice. 19 After the nazirite has shaved off the dedicated hair, the priest shall take a boiled shoulder of the ram, as well as one unleavened cake from the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them in the hands of the nazirite. 20 The priest shall then elevate them as an elevated offering before the Lord. They are an offering belonging to the priest, along with the brisket of the elevated offering and the leg of the contribution. Only after this may the nazirite drink wine.
21 This, then, is the law for the nazirites, that is, what they vow as their offering to the Lord in accord with their dedication, apart from anything else which their means may allow. In keeping with the vow they take so shall they do, according to the law of their dedication.
The Priestly Blessing. 22 The Lord said to Moses: 23 Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them:
24 The Lord bless you and keep you!
25 The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
26 The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace![b]
27 So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them.
Footnotes
- 6:2–21 Nazirite: from the Hebrew word nazir, meaning “set apart as sacred, dedicated, vowed.” The nazirite vow could be either for a limited period or for life. Those bound by this vow had to abstain from all the products of the grapevine, from cutting or shaving their hair, and from contact with a corpse. They were regarded as men and women of God like the prophets; cf. Am 2:11–12. Examples of lifelong nazirites were Samson (Jgs 13:4–5, 7; 16:17), Samuel (1 Sm 1:11), and John the Baptist (Lk 1:15). At the time of Jesus the practice of taking the nazirite vow for a limited period seems to have been quite common, even among the early Christians; cf. Acts 18:18; 21:23–24, 26.
- 6:26 Peace: the Hebrew word Shalom includes the idea of happiness, good health, prosperity, friendship, and general well-being. To use this term as a greeting was to pray for all these things upon the one greeted.
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