The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
The Nazirite Vow
Numbers 6:1–21 — The Nazirite Vow. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
1And the LORD said to Moses,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
Yah·weh ’el- way·ḏab·bêr mō·šeh lê·mōr
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And spoke Yahweh to Moses, saying:
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The foregoing law about women, suspected of adultery, is here followed by another relating to the conduct of those who, by a singular course of religious devotion, were desirous to prevent all such sins; namely, by making vows of uncommon purity, and devoting themselves to God in an extraordinary manner.
Nazir, from נזר to separate, lit., the separated, is applied to the man who vowed that he would make a separation to (for) Jehovah, i.e., lead a separate life for the Lord and His service. The origin of this custom is involved in obscurity.
The law of the Nazarite is appropriately added to other enactments which concern the sanctity of the holy nation. That sanctity found its highest expression in the Nazarite vow
as wine leads to adultery, as Jarchi observes, abstinence from it, which the Nazarite's vow obliged to, and forbearance of trimming and dressing the hair, and a being more strictly and closely devoted to the service of God, were very likely means of preserving from unchastityGill (citing Rashi/"Jarchi") links the Nazirite law to the preceding ordeal of the suspected wife.
2“Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD,
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dab·bêr ’el- bə·nê yiś·rā·’êl wə·’ā·mar·tā ’ă·lê·hem kî ’îš ’ōw- ’iš·šāh yap̄·li lin·dōr ne·ḏer nā·zîr lə·haz·zîr Yah·weh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them: when a man or woman does a wonder — to vow a vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to Yahweh —
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The verb which is here used denotes the doing something wonderful or extraordinary, and the spiritual lesson seems to be that Christ’s servants are expected and required to do something more than others ( Matthew 5:46-47 ).
It was not a little remarkable that women could be Nazirites, because, generally speaking, the religious condition of women under the law was so markedly inferior and so little considered. But this is altogether consistent with the true view of the Nazirite vow, viz., that it was an exceptional thing, outside the narrow pale of the law, giving scope and allowance to the free movements of the Spirit in individuals.
Heb. Nâzîr , denotes ‘one separated’ (as R.V. marg.). The full form is ‘a Nazir of God’ ( Jdg 13:5 ; Jdg 13:7 ), i.e. a religious devotee.
Who separated themselves from the world, and dedicated themselves to God: a figure which was accomplished in Christ.The Reformation Geneva note already reads the Nazirite typologically.
3he is to abstain from wine and strong drink. He must not drink vinegar made from wine or strong drink, and he must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
yaz·zîr mî·ya·yin wə·šê·ḵār lō yiš·teh ḥō·meṣ ya·yin wə·ḥō·meṣ šê·ḵār lō yiš·teh wə·ḵāl ‘ă·nā·ḇîm miš·raṯ yō·ḵêl la·ḥîm wa·‘ă·nā·ḇîm wî·ḇê·šîm lō
Literal — word-for-word from the original
From wine and strong drink he shall hold himself apart; vinegar of wine and vinegar of strong drink he shall not drink, and any steeping of grapes he shall not drink, and grapes — fresh or dried — he shall not eat.
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The design of this prohibition can hardly have been, merely that, by abstaining from intoxicating drink, the Nazarite might preserve perfect clearness and temperance of mind, like the priests when engaged in their duties, and so conduct himself as one sanctified to the Lord (Bhr); but it goes much further, and embraces entire abstinence from all the deliciae carnis by which holiness could be impaired.
The prohibition to eat any of the produce of the vine, even of that which was not intoxicating, seems designed to denote the entire consecration of the Nazirite to the Divine service, and the obligation which rested upon him to abstain from all the desires and delights of the flesh. The love of cakes made of raisins is coupled in Hosea 3:1 with idolatry.
every person so devoted should, during the whole time of his vow, taste no wine, nor any thing that had wine in it, nor any inflammatory liquors, which are incitements to lust; that so, by perfect temperance, his mind might be in a fit disposition for every part of the service of God.
Any intoxicating drink, other than wine including the beer of the Egyptians. Vinegar. Hebrew, chamets. It seems to have been freely used by the poorer people ( Ruth 2:14 ), and was, perhaps, a thin, sour wine
4All the days of his separation, he is not to eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins.
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kōl mik·kōl ’ă·šer yə·mê niz·rōw lō yō·ḵêl yê·‘ā·śeh mig·ge·p̄en hay·ya·yin mê·ḥar·ṣan·nîm wə·‘aḏ- zāḡ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
All the days of his separation, of all that is made from the vine of wine — from the seeds even to the skin — he shall not eat.
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The words rendered ‘kernels’ ( ḥarẓannîm ) and ‘husk’ ( zâg ) are not found elsewhere in the O.T. and their meaning is uncertain. It is not very natural to speak of the kernels (i.e. the stones or pips) and the husk (i.e. the skin) of the grape as produced by the vine. But no better rendering of the words has been proposed. The general sense, however, is clear. The eating of any sort of grape product is prohibited, even the most trifling or unpalatable parts of the produce of the vine.
The vine represented, by an easy parable, the tree of carnal delights, which yields to the appetite of men such a variety of satisfactions. So among the Romans the Flamen Dialis might not even touch a vine.
This interdict figures that separation from the general society of men to which the Nazarite for the time was consecrated.
The word which is rendered kenels is supposed by some to denote sour grapes, and by others the kernels of berries. The word zag denotes the shell or husk.
5For the entire period of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. He must be holy until the time of his separation to the LORD is complete; he must let the hair of his head grow long.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kāl- yə·mê ne·ḏer niz·rōw lō- ta·‘ar ya·‘ă·ḇōr ‘al- rō·šōw yih·yeh qā·ḏōš ‘aḏ- hay·yā·mim ’ă·šer- yaz·zîr Yah·weh mə·lōṯ śə·‘ar rō·šōw gad·dêl pe·ra‘
Literal — word-for-word from the original
All the days of the vow of his separation, no razor shall pass over his head; until the days are fulfilled which he separates to Yahweh, he shall be holy; he shall let grow the loose hair of his head.
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The free growth of the hair is called, in Numbers 6:7 , "the diadem of his God upon his head," like the golden diadem upon the turban of the high priest ( Exodus 29:6 ), and the anointing oil upon the high priest's head ( Leviticus 21:12 ). By this he sanctified his head ( Numbers 6:11 ) to the Lord, so that the consecration of the Nazarite culminated in his uncut hair
To the Jew, differing in this from the shaven Egyptian and the short-haired Greek, the hair represented the virile powers of the adult, growing with its growth, and failing again with its decay. To use a simple analogy from nature, the uncropped locks of the Nazirite were like the mane of the male lion, a symbol of the fullness of his proper strength and life
No razor shall come upon his head — Nor scissors, or other instrument, to cut off any part of his hair. This is the second rule he was to observe, and appointed, partly as a sign of his mortification to worldly delights and outward beauty; partly as a testimony of that purity which he professed
the free growth of the hair on the head of the Nazarite represented the dedication of the man with all his strength and powers to the service of God.
6Throughout the days of his separation to the LORD, he must not go near a dead body.
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kāl- yə·mê haz·zî·rōw Yah·weh lō yā·ḇō ‘al- mêṯ ne·p̄eš
Literal — word-for-word from the original
All the days of his separating himself to Yahweh, to a dead soul he shall not come.
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He shall come at no dead body — This was the third thing enjoined. For defilement by the dead made men unclean seven days; so that they might not approach the place of divine worship, Numbers 19:11-13 . Therefore, that the Nazarites might be always fit to attend upon the service of God, they were to avoid this legal defilement.
Because the Nazarite wore the diadem of his God upon his head in the growth of his hair, and was holy to the Lord during the whole period of his consecration, he was to approach no dead person during that time, not even to defile himself for his parents, or his brothers and sisters, when they died, according to the law laid down for the high priest in Leviticus 21:11 .
As at burials, or mournings.
7Even if his father or mother or brother or sister should die, he is not to defile himself, because the symbol of consecration to his God is upon his head.
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lə·’ā·ḇîw ū·lə·’im·mōw lə·’ā·ḥîw ū·lə·’a·ḥō·ṯōw bə·mō·ṯām lō- yiṭ·ṭam·mā lā·hem kî nê·zer ’ĕ·lō·hāw ‘al- rō·šōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
For his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister — at their death he shall not defile himself, for the consecration of his God is upon his head.
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The law of the Nazirite in this respect was equally stringent with that of the high priest ( Leviticus 21:11 ), and more stringent than that which was imposed upon the priests generally ( Leviticus 21:2-3 ). The consecration. —Better, the separation (Hebrew, nezer ) .
wherein he was equal to the high priest, Leviticus 21:11 , being, in some sort, as sacred a person, and as eminent a type of Christ, Hebrews 7:26 , and therefore justly required to prefer the service of God, to which he had so fully and peculiarly given himself, before the expressions of his affections to his dearest and nearest relations.
the Targum of Jonathan renders it, "the crown of his God"; so Aben Ezra observes, that some say that the word "Nazarite" is derived from "Nezer", a crown
The hair of the Nazirite was to him just what the diadem on the mitre was to the high priest, what the sacred chrism was to the sons of Aaron. Both of these are called by the word nezer ( Exodus 29:6 ; Leviticus 21:12 ), from the same root as nazir.
8Throughout the time of his separation, he is holy to the LORD.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kōl yə·mê niz·rōw hū qā·ḏōš Yah·weh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
All the days of his separation, holy he is to Yahweh.
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All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord. Set apart for his service, separate from all others, especially the dead, and under obligation to abstain from the above things; from drinking wine, from shaving his hair, and from defiling himself for the dead, and to be employed in holy and religious exercises during the time his vow is upon him.
Because the Nazarite wore the diadem of his God upon his head in the growth of his hair, and was holy to the Lord during the whole period of his consecration, he was to approach no dead person during that time
contact with a dead body, disqualifying for the divine service, the Nazarite carefully avoided such a cause of unfitness, and, like the high priest, did not assist at the funeral rites of his nearest relatives, preferring his duty to God to the indulgence of his strongest natural affections.
9If someone suddenly dies in his presence and defiles his consecrated head of hair, he must shave his head on the day of his cleansing—the seventh day.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·ḵî- bə·p̄e·ṯa‘ piṯ·’ōm yā·mūṯ mêṯ ‘ā·lāw wə·ṭim·mê rōš niz·rōw wə·ḡil·laḥ rō·šōw bə·yō·wm ṭā·ho·rā·ṯōw yə·ḡal·lə·ḥen·nū haš·šə·ḇî·‘î bay·yō·wm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And if one dies beside him in a sudden instant, and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing — on the seventh day he shall shave it.
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If any man die very suddenly by him. עָלָיו , in his presence, or neighbourhood, so that, having hastened to his assistance, lie found himself in contact with a corpse. This case is mentioned particularly, because it was the only one in which simple humanity or mere accident would be likely to infringe upon the vow.
He shall shave his head — Because his whole body, and especially his hair, was defiled by such an accident, which was to be imputed either to his own heedlessness, or to God’s providence so ordering the matter; possibly for the punishment of his other sins, or for the quickening him to more purity and detestation of all dead works
The hair, being polluted, must be got rid of in some way that would prevent it defiling other objects. The present law does not mention this; but in accordance with ancient practice it would probably be buried
thus by one single breach of the law of God a man becomes guilty of all, and liable to its curse, and his legal righteousness becomes insufficient to justify him before GodGill draws the gospel inference: one breach voids the whole, exposing the insufficiency of legal righteousness.
10On the eighth day he must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
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haš·šə·mî·nî ū·ḇay·yō·wm yā·ḇi šə·tê ṯō·rîm ’ōw šə·nê bə·nê yō·w·nāh ’el- hak·kō·hên ’el- pe·ṯaḥ ’ō·hel mō·w·‘êḏ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two sons of a pigeon to the priest, to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.
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The prescribed birds were an inexpensive form of offering; cf. Leviticus 5:7 ; Leviticus 12:8 ; Leviticus 14:30 f., Numbers 15:14 f., Num 15:29 f.; Luke 2:24 .
this case of the Nazarite's being an uncleanness, could not be purged away but by sacrifice; which was typical of the sacrifice of Christ, by which that unclean thing sin is put away for ever; even the sins of holy things can be moved in no other wayGill reads the doves of restoration as a type of Christ's sacrifice.
On the eighth day, that is to say, on the day after the legal purification, he was to bring to the priest at the tabernacle two turtle-doves or young pigeons, that he might make atonement for him
11And the priest is to offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to make atonement for him, because he has sinned by being in the presence of the dead body. On that day he must consecrate his head again.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hak·kō·hên wə·‘ā·śāh ’e·ḥāḏ lə·ḥaṭ·ṭāṯ wə·’e·ḥāḏ lə·‘ō·lāh wə·ḵip·per ‘ā·lāw mê·’ă·šer ḥā·ṭā ‘al- han·nā·p̄eš ha·hū bay·yō·wm wə·qid·daš ’eṯ- rō·šōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the priest shall make one a sin offering and one a burnt offering, and cover over him for that he sinned against the soul; and he shall re-hallow his head on that day.
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even this full completion did not supersede the necessity of a sin offering at the close. Sin mingles with our best and holiest performances, and the blood of sprinkling is necessary to procure acceptance to us and our services.
For a sin-offering, because such a pollution was, though not his sin, yet the chastisement of his sin, and had an appearance of sin, to wit, of negligence in not standing sufficiently upon his guard, which in such persons was in a manner equivalent to a sin. For that he sinned, i.e. contracted a ceremonial uncleanness, which is called sinning, because it was a type of sin, and a violation of a law, though through ignorance and inadvertency
The word which is here rendered “offer” ( asah ) , like the Greek poiein, means literally “do.” Its sacrificial signification, however, in this place, is entirely dependent upon the context.
This is one of the cases in which the law seemed to teach plainly that an outward, accidental, and involuntary defilement was sin, and had need to be atoned for. The opposite principle was declared by our Lord ( Mark 7:18 -93).
12He must rededicate his time of separation to the LORD and bring a year-old male lamb as a guilt offering. But the preceding days shall not be counted, because his separation was defiled.
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wə·hiz·zîr yə·mê niz·rōw Yah·weh ’eṯ- wə·hê·ḇî ben- šə·nā·ṯōw ke·ḇeś lə·’ā·šām hā·ri·šō·nîm wə·hay·yā·mîm yip·pə·lū kî niz·rōw ṭā·mê
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And he shall separate to Yahweh the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb, a son of its year, for a guilt offering; and the former days shall fall, because his separation was defiled.
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He was therefore to commence the whole time of his consecration entirely afresh, and to observe it as required by the vow. To this end he was to bring a trespass-offering, as a payment or recompense for being reinstated in the former state of consecration, from which he had fallen through his defilement
For a trespass offering. Rather, "for a guilt offering." Hebrew, asham (see Leviticus 5 ). The asham always implied guilt, even though it might be purely legal, and it was to be offered in this case in acknowledgment of the offence involved in the involuntary breach of vow.
we see how much trouble and expense were brought by a single act of pollution, and that involuntary too; how much more need is there of an atoning sacrifice for the sins of men, even for all of them, and for which only the sacrifice of Christ is sufficient?
the distinctive feature of the offering in other cases seems to have been that it involved an act of reparation for wrong done (see on Numbers 5:6-8 ). In the present case it is probably reparation for the delay in the completion of the vow
13Now this is the law of the Nazirite when his time of separation is complete: He must be brought to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,
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wə·zōṯ tō·w·raṯ han·nā·zîr bə·yō·wm yə·mê niz·rōw mə·lōṯ yā·ḇî ’ō·ṯōw ’el- pe·ṯaḥ ’ō·hel mō·w·‘êḏ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And this is the law of the Nazirite: on the day the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.
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The directions as to the release from consecration are called "the law of the Nazarite" ( Numbers 6:13 ), because the idea of the Nazarite's vows culminated in the sacrificial festival which terminated the consecration, and it was in this that it attained to its fullest manifestation.
Perpetual Nazariteship was probably unknown in the days of Moses; but the examples of Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist, show that it was in later times undertaken for life. Again, Moses does not expressly require that limits should be assigned to the vow; but a rule was afterward imposed that no Nazarite vow should be taken for less than thirty days.
All the Nazirites, however, of whom we read in Scripture were lifelong Nazirites: Samson ( Judges 13:5 ), Samuel ( 1 Samuel 1:11 ), John the Baptist ( Luke 1:15 ). In all these cases, however, the vow was made for them before their birth.
the Targum of Jonathan is,"he shall bring himself;''that is, present himself; and so Jarchi and Aben Ezra; which latter adds, or the priest shall bring him by command, whether he will or not, to offer his offering.
14and he is to present an offering to the LORD of an unblemished year-old male lamb as a burnt offering, an unblemished year-old female lamb as a sin offering, and an unblemished ram as a peace offering—
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·hiq·rîḇ ’eṯ- qā·rə·bā·nōw Yah·weh ’e·ḥāḏ ṯā·mîm ben- šə·nā·ṯōw ke·ḇeś lə·‘ō·lāh ’a·ḥaṯ tə·mî·māh baṯ- šə·nā·ṯāh wə·ḵaḇ·śāh lə·ḥaṭ·ṭāṯ ’e·ḥāḏ tā·mîm wə·’a·yil- liš·lā·mîm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And he shall bring near his offering to Yahweh: one male lamb, son of its year, without blemish, for a burnt offering; and one ewe-lamb, daughter of its year, without blemish, for a sin offering; and one ram, without blemish, for peace offerings.
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The word which is here rendered offer is different from that which is used in Numbers 6:11 , and means literally to bring near. The cognate noun is Corban —a word which St. Mark translates into Greek dovon, and which means a gift offered to God.
The sin-offering (compare the marginal references), though named second, was in practice offered first, being intended to expiate involuntary sins committed during the period of separation. The burnt-offering ( Leviticus 1:10 ff) denoted the self-surrender on which alone all acceptableness in the Nazarite before God must rest; the peace-offerings ( Leviticus 3:12 ff) expressed thankfulness to God by whose grace the vow had been fulfilled.
For a sin-offering, whereby he confessed and bewailed his frailties and miscarriages, notwithstanding the strictness of his vow and all the diligence and care which he could use, and consequently acknowledged his need of the grace of God in Christ Jesus the true Nazarite.
peace-offerings ] Heb. shelâmîm . The meaning is uncertain. Some connect it with shâlôm ‘peace,’ and explain it as ‘the sacrifice offered when friendly relations existed towards God, as distinct from piacular offerings which presupposed estrangement.’
15together with their grain offerings and drink offerings—and a basket of unleavened cakes made from fine flour mixed with oil and unleavened wafers coated with oil.
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ū·min·ḥā·ṯām wə·nis·kê·hem wə·sal maṣ·ṣō·wṯ ḥal·lōṯ sō·leṯ bə·lū·lōṯ baš·še·men maṣ·ṣō·wṯ ū·rə·qî·qê mə·šu·ḥîm baš·šā·men
Literal — word-for-word from the original
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.
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And a basket of unleavened bread,.... As at the consecration of Aaron and his sons, Exodus 29:2 ; though for peace offerings for thanksgiving leavened bread was offered, Leviticus 7:13 , cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil; ten of each sort, as Jarchi says
In addition to this he was to bring a ram without blemish as a peace-offering, together with a basket of unleavened cakes and wafers baked, which were required, according to Leviticus 7:12 , for every praise-offering
A basket of unleavened bread... anointed with oil. Required for every sacrifice of thanksgiving, as this was ( Leviticus 7:12 ).
16The priest is to present all these before the LORD and make the sin offering and the burnt offering.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hak·kō·hên wə·hiq·rîḇ lip̄·nê Yah·weh wə·‘ā·śāh ’eṯ- ḥaṭ·ṭā·ṯōw wə·’eṯ- ‘ō·lā·ṯōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the priest shall bring them near before Yahweh, and shall make his sin offering and his burnt offering.
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And the priest shall bring them before the Lord,.... All the above offerings to the altar of burnt offering, and there present them to the Lord in the name of the Nazarite: and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering: here they stand in the proper order in which they were offered.
The sin-offering (compare the marginal references), though named second, was in practice offered first, being intended to expiate involuntary sins committed during the period of separation.
The sin-offering and burnt-offering were carried out according to the general instructions.
17He shall also offer the ram as a peace offering to the LORD, along with the basket of unleavened bread. And the priest is to offer the accompanying grain offering and drink offering.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·’eṯ- ya·‘ă·śeh hā·’a·yil ze·ḇaḥ šə·lā·mîm Yah·weh ‘al sal ham·maṣ·ṣō·wṯ hak·kō·hên ’eṯ- wə·‘ā·śāh min·ḥā·ṯōw wə·’eṯ- nis·kōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the ram he shall make a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, upon the basket of unleavened bread; and the priest shall make its grain offering and its drink offering.
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And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord,.... After he had offered the other two: with the basket of unleavened bread; which went along with that: the priest shall also offer his meat offering, and his drink offering: of which he had his part, and were the usual appendages of other sacrifices
The completion of the consecration vow was concentrated in the preparation of the ram and the basket of unleavened bread for the peace-offering, along with the appropriate meat-offering and drink-offering.
the peace-offerings ( Leviticus 3:12 ff) expressed thankfulness to God by whose grace the vow had been fulfilled.
18Then at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the Nazirite is to shave his consecrated head, take the hair, and put it on the fire under the peace offering.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
pe·ṯaḥ ’ō·hel mō·w·‘êḏ han·nā·zîr wə·ḡil·laḥ niz·rōw rōš ’eṯ- wə·lā·qaḥ ’eṯ- śə·‘ar rōš niz·rōw wə·nā·ṯan ‘al- hā·’êš ’ă·šer- ta·ḥaṯ ze·ḇaḥ haš·šə·lā·mîm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the Nazirite shall shave, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, his consecrated head, and shall take the hair of his consecrated head and put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of peace offerings.
Where the English smooths the original
As the Nazarite had during his vow worn his hair unshorn in honor of God, so when the time was complete it was natural that the hair, the symbol of his vow, should be cut off, and offered to God at the sanctuary. The burning of the hair "in the fire under the sacrifice of the peace offering "represented the eucharistic communion with God obtained by those who realised the ideal which the Nazarite set forth
It is not said, nor intended, that the hair was offered to God as a sacrifice. If so, it would have been burnt with the burnt offering which represented the self-dedication of the worshipper. It had been holy to the Lord, growing uncut all the days of the vow.
At the door of the tabernacle — Publicly, that it might be known that his vow was ended; and therefore he was at liberty as to those things from which he had restrained himself for a season, otherwise some might have taken offence at his use of his liberty.
The burning of the hair is of the nature of an offering, and also prevents its desecration. The custom is not confined to the Hebrews, but finds many parallels in antiquity and in primitive races to-day. The hair is considered to be the special seat of the life and strength of the man, and thus represents the man himself when it is offered to the deity.
19And the priest is to take the boiled shoulder from the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and put them into the hands of the Nazirite who has just shaved the hair of his consecration.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hak·kō·hên ’eṯ- wə·lā·qaḥ bə·šê·lāh haz·zə·rō·a‘ min- hā·’a·yil ’a·ḥaṯ maṣ·ṣāh wə·ḥal·laṯ min- has·sal ’e·ḥāḏ maṣ·ṣāh ū·rə·qîq wə·nā·ṯan ‘al- kap·pê han·nā·zîr ’a·ḥar hiṯ·gal·lə·ḥōw ’eṯ- niz·rōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the priest shall take the boiled shoulder from the ram, and one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the palms of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecration.
Where the English smooths the original
the priest took the boiled shoulder of the ram, with an unleavened cake and wafer out of the basket, and placed these pieces in the hands of the Nazarite, and waved them before Jehovah. They then became the portion of the priest, in addition to the wave-breast and heave-leg which fell to the priest in the case of every peace-offering
The shoulder — The left shoulder, as it appears from Numbers 6:20 , where this is joined with the heave-shoulder, which was the right shoulder, and which was the priests’ due in all sacrifices, ( Leviticus 7:32 ,) and in this also. But here the other shoulder was added to it, as a special token of thankfulness from the Nazarites for God’s singular favours
the vow of the Nazarite being a very sacred thing and he being enabled to perform it, a greater expression of gratitude for it was expected and required of him
20The priest shall then wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. This is a holy portion for the priest, in addition to the breast of the wave offering and the thigh that was presented. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hak·kō·hên wə·hê·nîp̄ ’ō·w·ṯām tə·nū·p̄āh lip̄·nê Yah·weh hū qō·ḏeš lak·kō·hên ‘al ḥă·zêh hat·tə·nū·p̄āh wə·‘al šō·wq hat·tə·rū·māh wə·’a·ḥar han·nā·zîr yiš·teh yā·yin
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the priest shall wave them a wave offering before Yahweh — it is holy for the priest, with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution; and after that the Nazirite may drink wine.
Where the English smooths the original
"After that the Nazarite may drink wine" (again), probably at the sacrificial meal, after the Lord had received His share of the sacrifice, and his release from consecration had thus been completed.
The breast—and in the present case the boiled shoulder and part of the meal-offering also—were waved or swung, that is, apparently, moved towards the altar and back, as a symbol that the priest first gave them to God, and that God then gave them back to him for his own use
testifying hereby the goodness of God unto him, his sovereign dominion over him, that all he had depended on him, and was received from him; and that all he did, particularly in keeping his vow of Nazariteship, was through his assistance
The priest shall wave them - i. e. by placing his hands under those of the Nazarite: compare Leviticus 7:30 .
21This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the LORD for his separation, in addition to whatever else he can afford; he must fulfill whatever vow he makes, according to the law of his separation.”
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
zōṯ tō·w·raṯ han·nā·zîr ’ă·šer yid·dōr qā·rə·bā·nōw Yah·weh ‘al- niz·rōw mil·lə·ḇaḏ ’ă·šer- taś·śîḡ yā·ḏōw kə·p̄î ya·‘ă·śeh ’ă·šer niḏ·rōw yid·dōr kên ‘al tō·w·raṯ niz·rōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to Yahweh for his separation — besides what his hand can reach — according to his vow which he vows, so he shall do, according to the law of his separation.
Where the English smooths the original
"This is the law of the Nazarite, who vowed his sacrificial gifts to the Lord on the ground of his consecration," i.e., who offered his sacrifice in accordance with the state of a Nazarite into which he had entered.
The law prescribes only the minimum offering. The Nazirite was free, and was probably encouraged, to vow something larger; and he must faithfully do ‘according to the vow which he voweth.’ The warning given at a later time in Ecclesiastes 5:4 f. shews that vows were not always paid.
Beside that his hand shall get. Literally, "grasp." If he can afford or can procure anything more as a free-will offering, he may well do so. In later days it became customary for richer people to defray for their poorer brethren the cost of their sacrifices (Josephus, Ant. , 19:6, 1; and cf. Acts 21:24 ).
Beside that that his hand shall get - The Nazarite, in addition to the offerings prescribed above, was to present free-will offerings according to his possessions or means.
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The law opens not with a prohibition but with a wonder. When a man or woman yap̄·li (H6381) — "does an extraordinary thing" — to vow the vow of a nā·zîr, the verb is the root behind God's own marvels. Charles Ellicott hears the lesson in it: "the spiritual lesson seems to be that Christ’s servants are expected and required to do something more than others." The chapter's keyword is its own gloss: nā·zîr (H5139), the separated one, defined in the same breath by lə·haz·zîr la·Yahweh — "to separate himself to the LORD." Keil & Delitzsch fixes the sense: from נזר, "to separate, lit., the separated, is applied to the man who vowed that he would make a separation to (for) Jehovah, i.e., lead a separate life for the Lord and His service." That the vow was open to either sex struck the older voices as remarkable; The Pulpit Commentary reads it as liberty of the Spirit, "giving scope and allowance to the free movements of the Spirit in individuals," even "an anticipation of the time when the spirit of self-devotion should be poured out without distinction upon men and women." The separation is never an end in itself — it is direction toward God, and the abstinences that follow are only the negative shape of that positive love.
The vow has three visible edges, and every voice numbers them the same. First, total abstinence from the vine: not only wine and shekar, but vinegar, the miš·raṯ (H4952, a sole-occurrence word for grape-steeping), even fresh and dried grapes, "from the kernels even to the husk" (v. 4) — the merism for everything. Keil & Delitzsch presses past mere sobriety: the prohibition "goes much further, and embraces entire abstinence from all the deliciae carnis by which holiness could be impaired." Second, the uncut hair: no razor may pass over his head, and he lets grow the pe·ra‘ (H6545), the loose untrimmed locks. The Pulpit Commentary gives the Hebrew sense of it — "the uncropped locks of the Nazirite were like the mane of the male lion, a symbol of the fullness of his proper strength and life" — and K&D sees the vow culminate there: "the consecration of the Nazarite culminated in his uncut hair, and expressed in the most perfect way the meaning of his vow." Third, no approach to a "dead soul" (nephesh, v. 6), not even for father or mother. Here Matthew Poole notes the Nazirite stood with the high priest, "as sacred a person, and as eminent a type of Christ, Hebrews 7:26." Three abstinences, one aim, sealed by v. 8: "holy is he to the LORD."
Then the unforeseen: someone drops dead bə·p̄e·ṯa‘ piṯ·’ōm — "in a sudden instant" (v. 9) — at the Nazirite's side, and the nezer upon his head is defiled. The remedy is severe and the language startling. He must shave, wait, and bring two birds, and the priest "shall make atonement for him, because he sinned" (v. 11) — though he did nothing morally wrong. Matthew Poole names the paradox exactly: the defilement "is called sinning, because it was a type of sin, and a violation of a law, though through ignorance and inadvertency." Jamieson, Fausset & Brown draws the larger lesson from the closing sin-offering: "Sin mingles with our best and holiest performances, and the blood of sprinkling is necessary to procure acceptance to us and our services." And the former days fall (v. 12, yip·pə·lū): all the consecration already accrued is void, and he begins again from zero, with a costly âshâm. John Gill hears the gospel underneath: "how much more need is there of an atoning sacrifice for the sins of men... and for which only the sacrifice of Christ is sufficient?" One contact with death undoes a whole standing structure of holiness.
"This is the tôrâh of the Nazirite" (v. 13): when the days are full he is brought to the door of the Tent, and the rite that releases him is, as Keil & Delitzsch says, the place where "the idea of the Nazarite's vows culminated... it attained to its fullest manifestation." He brings near (qârab, v. 14) his corban — three flawless victims (Ellicott: "The cognate noun is Corban—a word which St. Mark translates into Greek... a gift offered to God") and the consecration-basket of unleavened cakes and wafers. Then the great gesture: at the door he shaves the consecrated head and lays the hair on the fire under the peace offering (v. 18). Albert Barnes reads it as communion: the burning "represented the eucharistic communion with God obtained by those who realised the ideal which the Nazarite set forth." The priest fills the Nazirite's open palms with the boiled shoulder and bread, waves them Godward and back (v. 19-20), and the chapter that began by banning the vine ends by restoring it: "after that the Nazirite may drink wine" — K&D: "after the Lord had received His share of the sacrifice, and his release from consecration had thus been completed." Abstinence has become feast.
The unit closes as it titled itself: "This is the law of the Nazirite" (v. 21, an inclusio with v. 13), and its very last word — with the section-marker פ — is niz·rōw, "his separation," the noun that named the whole. The verse triples the vow-root nâdar/neder: "who vows... according to his vow which he vows, so he must do." Freely chosen, the vow becomes binding. The law sets only a floor — "besides what his hand can reach" (literally, what his hand grasps) — never a ceiling; Cambridge notes the Nazirite "was free, and was probably encouraged, to vow something larger," and warns with Ecclesiastes 5 "that vows were not always paid." The Pulpit Commentary records how, in later days, "it became customary for richer people to defray for their poorer brethren the cost of their sacrifices" (so Paul in Acts 21:24). The chapter ends not in restriction but in glad, costly, voluntary devotion — the more, the better.
Held under the rule that Scripture alone is final — and offered as a reading to be tested, not a verdict to be trusted — three things press out of these twenty-one verses. First, separation is for the sake of nearness. Every "shall not" of vv. 3-8 hangs on one "unto": lə·haz·zîr la·Yahweh, to separate himself to the LORD. The Nazirite gives up wine, the razor, and the funeral not because these are evil but because his whole strength — symbolized in the lion-mane of uncut hair — is dedicated, undiminished, to God. The abstinence is never the point; the nezer is, the crown of consecration that bears the same name as the high priest's diadem and the king's crown. Holiness in this chapter is not subtraction but direction. Second, even involuntary defilement is named sin and needs covering. The man beside whom death strikes "sinned" (v. 11) though he willed nothing; the days he had kept simply fall; he must start over with a guilt-offering. The law is teaching, in ceremony, what the conscience is slow to learn — that contact with death and corruption defiles whether or not we chose it, and that nothing but blood restores. JFB is right: "Sin mingles with our best and holiest performances." Even the perfectly kept vow ends with a sin-offering (v. 14). Third, the vow ends not in loss but in feast. The hair grown for God is given to God in the fire; the palms emptied of the vow are filled by the priest; and the wine forbidden at the start is poured at the close. The trajectory of true consecration is not endless renunciation but renunciation that ripens into communion. The Berean test applies to this reading too — weigh it against the text, including the places the voices leave open: whether miš·raṯ and the "kernels/husk" can be precisely defined (Cambridge: "uncertain"), whether the hair was burned on the altar-fire or the kitchen-fire (Poole), and whether the Nazirite "brings himself" or is brought by the priest (Gill).
Not a verse, but a reading to be tested: the Nazirite gives up the vine, the razor, and the grave — and at the end the fire takes his hair, the priest fills his hands, and the wine comes back; consecration does not end in loss but in a shared table.
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
Two of this chapter's rarest words — the verb nâzar ("to separate," H5144) and the noun ʻênâb ("grape," H6025) — meet again in Hosea's bitter remembrance of Israel's beginnings: "I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness... but they came to Baal-peor and separated themselves unto that shame" (Hosea 9:10). The Verifier confirms the verbal link: both nâzar (10 vv) and ʻênâb (17 vv) are uncommon, and their co-occurrence is a near-fingerprint. The irony is exact: the word that here names separating to the LORD Hosea turns to name Israel's separating to Baal; the grape the Nazirite must refuse becomes the figure of the people God once delighted in. Charles Ellicott already heard the resonance of the vine and idolatry on this very verse: "The love of cakes made of raisins is coupled in Hosea 3:1 with idolatry." The same lexemes that build a holy vow can be bent to name apostasy.
Numbers 6:3 · Hosea 9:10
basis: Verifier-computed shared lexemes: H5144 nâzar (in 10 vv) and H6025 ʻênâb (in 17 vv). Both are rare enough that their joint occurrence marks a genuine verbal link — the Nazirite-root and the grape — reused by Hosea to describe Israel's self-separation to Baal.
The completion offering includes "a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil" (v. 15). The three Hebrew words for this bread — çal ("basket," H5536, 13 vv), challâh ("cake," H2471, 11 vv), and râqîyq ("wafer," H7550, 8 vv) — are exactly the trio that furnishes the consecration of Aaron and his sons (Exod 29:23; Lev 8:26). John Gill names the link without prompting: "And a basket of unleavened bread,.... As at the consecration of Aaron and his sons, Exodus 29:2." The Verifier bears it out: the bread of the released Nazirite is, word for word, the bread of the ordained priest. The figure the whole chapter has been pressing — that the Nazirite lives "as sacred a person" as the priest (Poole) — is sealed in the very loaves he brings.
Numbers 6:15 · Exodus 29:23 · Leviticus 8:26
basis: Verifier-computed rare shared lexemes for Num 6:15 ↔ Lev 8:26: H7550 râqîyq (in 8 vv), H2471 challâh (in 11 vv), H5536 çal (in 13 vv), plus H4682 matstsâh (42 vv); the same râqîyq/çal/matstsâh cluster ties Num 6:15 ↔ Exod 29:23. The 8- and 11-verse frequencies make the dependence verbal, not merely thematic — the ordination-bread reused for the Nazirite.
When the priest takes "the boiled shoulder from the ram" (v. 19), the word for boiled is bə·šê·lāh (H1311, bâshêl) — one of the rarest adjectives in the Hebrew Bible, occurring in just 2 verses. Its only twin is the Passover command: "Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but only roasted over the fire" (Exod 12:9). The Verifier isolates the link to this single near-unique lexeme. The contrast is pointed: the Passover lamb may not be boiled — it must be roasted whole over fire — yet the Nazirite's peace-offering shoulder is boiled, then waved and given to the priest for the shared meal. The same rare word marks two different rites: one a hurried, fire-roasted redemption-meal eaten standing; the other a leisured, boiled communion-meal that crowns a completed vow. Honestly tiered: a single shared lexeme, however rare, is a thinner thread than a multi-word cluster — the connection is genuine but narrow, and we name it as such.
Numbers 6:19 · Exodus 12:9
basis: Verifier-computed shared lexeme: H1311 bâshêl (in only 2 vv) — "boiled." Its extreme rarity (the word's sole other occurrence is the Passover prohibition of Exod 12:9) makes the verbal link certain, though it rests on a single word; the rites it joins are deliberately contrasted (boiled vs. forbidden-to-boil).
Numbers 6 contemplates a vow "for a limited time" (so JFB, Benson, K&D), but the chapter's keyword nā·zîr binds it to its most famous lifelong instances. Albert Barnes: "the examples of Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist, show that it was in later times undertaken for life." The Verifier ties Num 6:13 to Judges 16:17 (Samson's confession, "I have been a Nazirite unto God from my mother's womb") and to the angel's word in Judges 13:5 by the shared rare noun nā·zîr (16 vv), with the shaving-verb gâlach (18 vv) surfacing in both Num 6:18-19 and Judg 16:17 — where the same shaving that releases the temporary Nazirite ruins the lifelong one. Tiered honestly: the link is the shared institution and its vocabulary, not a quotation — Samson is the law lived (and broken), so the connection is structural, carried by the keyword that names the whole class.
Numbers 6:13 · Judges 13:5 · Judges 16:17
basis: Verifier-computed shared lexeme: H5139 nâzîyr (in 16 vv) for Num 6:13 ↔ Judg 16:17 (and Judg 13:5); the shaving-verb H1548 gâlach (18 vv) recurs in Num 6:18-19 and Judg 16:17. The connection is the shared Nazirite institution and its vocabulary — structural, not a verbal quotation.
The word for the Nazirite's consecration, nezer (H5145), is the same noun used for the king's crown ("the crown that was on his head," 2 Sam 1:10) and, in cognate, the high priest's golden diadem (Exod 29:6). The Verifier links Num 6:7 to 2 Sam 1:10 by shared nezer (22 vv); John Gill records the old reading directly: "the Targum of Jonathan renders it, 'the crown of his God'... that some say... the word 'Nazarite' is derived from 'Nezer', a crown." Gill draws the line forward at once: "in this respect the Nazarites were not only types of Christ our King and high priest, who is a priest on his throne, and has on his head many crowns" — the shared word nezer, worn by Nazirite, priest, and king alike, converges in the One who unites all three offices. A second strand: the rare hair-word pera‘ (H6545, only 3 vv) of v. 5 binds to Ezekiel 44:20, where priests are forbidden to let their pera‘ grow long — the very freedom commanded the Nazirite. Tiered honestly: the nezer link to 2 Samuel is carried partly by common words (rôʼsh, lôʼ) and so is structural, not verbal; the pera‘ link to Ezekiel rests on a genuinely rare word but mixed with high-frequency lexemes, so we name the rarity and still decline to over-claim a single quotation.
Numbers 6:5 · Numbers 6:7 · 2 Samuel 1:10 · Ezekiel 44:20
basis: Verifier-computed shared lexemes: H5145 nezer (in 22 vv) for Num 6:7 ↔ 2 Sam 1:10 (plus common H7218 rôʼsh, H3808 lôʼ), which the Verifier tiers structural; H6545 peraʻ (in 3 vv) for Num 6:5 ↔ Ezek 44:20 (with common H7218 rôʼsh, H3808 lôʼ), which the Verifier — on the strength of the rare peraʻ — tiers verbal. We bundle both pairs under the single diadem/hair motif and tier the combined thread conservatively as structural, naming peraʻ's rarity rather than over-claiming the whole bundle as a quotation; the stricter verbal tier the Verifier assigns the peraʻ pair alone is noted here in full.
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
The oldest readers of this chapter saw past the vow to the One it figured. Matthew Poole, on the Nazirite who may not defile himself even for his parents, says he was "as sacred a person, and as eminent a type of Christ, Hebrews 7:26" — the verse that calls our High Priest "holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners." John Gill works the type carefully: the Nazirites "were types of Christ, who, though he was not strictly a Nazarite, but a Nazarene, yet answered to the Nazarites" — "in his being holy and harmless in his life and conversation, and separate from sinners." And Matthew Poole again names Him "Christ Jesus the true Nazarite" (on v. 14). The Nazirite's three signs — undiminished strength given wholly to God, total purity, separation from death — are the shadow; the substance is the Holy One who was perfectly consecrated, perfectly undefiled, and untouched by the corruption of the grave. Honestly held: this is a Greek↔Hebrew, doctrinal-typological reading argued by the voices and by Hebrews 7, not a shared-lexeme claim — indeed the careful voices note Jesus was a Nazarene (of Nazareth), not technically a Nazir.
Numbers 6:7 · Numbers 6:8 · Hebrews 7:26
Even the Nazirite who keeps his vow flawlessly must, at its completion, bring a sin-offering (v. 14). Matthew Poole reads it as confession: "whereby he confessed and bewailed his frailties and miscarriages, notwithstanding the strictness of his vow... and consequently acknowledged his need of the grace of God in Christ Jesus the true Nazarite." Jamieson, Fausset & Brown universalizes it: "Sin mingles with our best and holiest performances, and the blood of sprinkling is necessary to procure acceptance." And John Gill, on the involuntary defilement of v. 12, reaches straight for the cross: "how much more need is there of an atoning sacrifice for the sins of men... and for which only the sacrifice of Christ is sufficient?" The deepest consecration a man can vow still ends at an altar of atonement — the figure confesses that no vow, however faithful, can dispense with the blood that covers. The typological reading hears the gospel logic the chapter itself sets up: holiness, even Nazirite holiness, is received by sacrifice, not achieved by abstinence. This is a doctrinal-typological, Greek↔Hebrew reading, argued by the voices, never a verbal-lexeme link.
Numbers 6:11 · Numbers 6:14 · Hebrews 9:14
The chapter's lifelong Nazirites point forward as well as back. The Pulpit Commentary is precise about the distinction the English blurs: "The Hebrew Nazir has been written Nazarite in English under the mistaken impression that there is some connection between Nazir and Nazarene" — and names the true heir of the vow: "John the Baptist was the Nazir of the New Testament." Barnes and K&D agree that Samson, Samuel, and John were "vowed or dedicated to the Lord by their parents even before they were born" (Luke 1:15: "he shall drink no wine nor strong drink"). The forerunner who lived the ancient vow — wine refused, life wholly given, sent to make ready — prepared the way for the One who was no Nazir at all but came "eating and drinking" (Luke 7:33-34), the bridegroom at whose coming the fast gives way to the feast, as the chapter itself ends with wine restored (v. 20). Honestly held: the Numbers→Luke connection is institutional and typological, argued from the shared Nazirite vow; the Hebrew of Numbers and the Greek of Luke share no Strong's lexeme, and the Verifier returns these cross-Testament pairs as flagged — "no shared original-language lexeme found... must be argued, not asserted."
Numbers 6:3 · Numbers 6:13 · Luke 1:15
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
This unit is the law of the Nazirite vow (Num 6:1-21), and its commentary stream reflects that. Several voices repeat a single section-comment verbatim across many verses in the public-domain sources: Matthew Henry's whole-chapter note (6:1-21) is identical at every verse, so it is drawn on for the grand commentary rather than quoted as if fresh per verse; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown repeats one block across vv. 2-8 and another across vv. 13-20; Keil & Delitzsch and others likewise repeat long blocks, and their excerpts here are pointed to the clause each actually explains. Matthew Poole has "No text from Poole on this verse" at vv. 6, 8, 16, and 17; he is quoted only where he genuinely comments. Three honest open questions are surfaced, not smoothed: (1) the words ḥarṣannîm ("kernels," H2785) and zâg ("husk," H2085) of v. 4 occur nowhere else in the OT and Cambridge calls their meaning "uncertain"; the rare miš·raṯ (H4952) of v. 3 is likewise a sole occurrence. (2) Whether the hair of v. 18 was burned on the brazen altar or on the kitchen-fire beneath the boiling peace-offering — Poole expressly weighs both and leans to the latter; the Pulpit leans to the altar. (3) Whether the Nazirite "brings himself" or is "brought by the priest" in v. 13 — Gill records both Targum and Aben Ezra readings. Cross-reference honesty: the confirmed verbal threads are all Hebrew↔Hebrew and rest on rare shared Strong's lexemes computed by the Verifier — nâzar+ʻênâb for Hosea 9:10, the râqîyq/challâh/çal bread-cluster for Exod 29 / Lev 8, and the near-unique bâshêl (2 vv) for Exod 12:9. The Samson links (Judg 13; 16) and the nezer/peraʻ diadem links (2 Sam 1; Ezek 44) are carried partly or wholly by the shared institution and its keywords, sometimes diluted by high-frequency words, so they are tiered structural, not verbal. The Christ readings reach into the New Testament (Heb 7:26; Heb 9:14; Luke 1:15); these are Greek↔Hebrew and therefore cannot share a Strong's number — the Verifier returns the Num 6:3 ↔ Luke 1:15 pair as "flagged — verify source... no shared original-language lexeme... must be argued, not asserted," and we present them honestly as ancient typological/doctrinal readings, not verbal quotations. All frequency counts cited in the bases are the Verifier's whole-Bible totals.
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)