The Nazirite and the Blessing
The Book of Numbers is better understood in terms of its name in Hebrew: Bemidbar, “in the wilderness,” for it described Israel’s preparations to depart from Mount Horeb/Sinai and their wanderings in the wilderness afterward. The events described therein would have taken place sometime around either 1450-1410 or 1250 BCE, depending on one’s view of the Exodus; Moses would have written the original text while in the land of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho.
In Numbers 1:1-10:10 Moses set forth the preparations necessary for Israel to travel; while we may find such information tedious, we have records of Egyptian rulers chronicling their preparations and logistics for major campaigns. Such suggests many ancient people took pride in detailing all which proved necessary to accomplish their great deeds. YHWH had commanded Moses and Aaron to take a military census of the Israelites and to organize the camp by tribe in Numbers 1:1-2:34 and then to take a count of the Levite men and assign their forms of service in Numbers 3:1-4:49. Moses, Aaron, and the Israelites had proven obedient to all which YHWH had commanded them.
In the middle of describing such events, YHWH gave commandments to Moses regarding matters of purity and wholeness among the Israelites in Numbers 5:1-31, the Nazirite vow in Numbers 6:1-21, and the Aaronic High Priestly Blessing in Numbers 6:22-27.
YHWH set forth the provisions for the nazir, the “Nazirite” (Numbers 6:1-21). The term derives from the word for “remaining aloof,” or perhaps “set apart”; it can also refer to an untrimmed vine, perhaps an association with the abstinence from grape products and maintenance of untrimmed hair which were the primary signs of the Nazirite (Numbers 6:3, 5).
Any Israelite, male or female, could make the determination to become a Nazirite for a specified amount of time: they would take the Nazirite vow to dedicate themselves to YHWH (Numbers 6:1-2). During the time of their Nazirite vow, they were to separate themselves from any products from grapes: wine, shekar, grapes, or raisins (Numbers 6:3-4). Shekar has been generically translated as “strong drink” in English for centuries; the related term in Akkadian refers to beer, and Numbers 6:2-3 would represent the strongest argument against understanding shekar as “beer” in Hebrew since association is made with the grape, although we have evidence from Egypt of beer being sweetened with wine, and such may explain the association. Some translate shekar in Numbers 6:2 as “vinegar”; some are willing to go as far as translating it as “brandy,” but evidence for distillation in the ancient Near East is lacking.
Israelites who have taken the Nazirite vow upon themselves were also to allow their hair to grow long and thus be holy before YHWH (Numbers 6:5). They must not come into contact with any dead body during their time under the Nazirite vow, even a close relative since he or she is separated out as holy before YHWH (Numbers 6:6-8). Provision was then made for the sacrifices necessary for an Israelite under a Nazirite vow who somehow became defiled by touching a dead body; he or she would have to rededicate themselves to YHWH under the Nazirite vow and would have to bring a trespass or reparation offering on account of having transgressed their vow of separation (Numbers 6:9-12).
YHWH then also made provision for the “law of the Nazirite,” the offerings and rituals necessary to bring the Nazirite vow to its completion (Numbers 6:13-20): a burnt offering, a purification or sin offering, and a peace offering, as well as grain and drink offerings, all presented by the priest before YHWH. At the tent of meeting the Nazirite would shave his head and the hair would be burnt on the offering with the peace offering. After the wave offering the Israelite under the Nazirite vow would be released and able to drink wine and otherwise participate in the life of the community.
The most (in)famous “Nazirite” of the Hebrew Bible was Samson, dedicated to YHWH from the womb (Judges 13:7); yet Samson’s story seems to feature the continual violation of the Nazirite vow, touching (and even eating from) the carcass of a lion, and eventually having his hair shorn (cf. Judges 14:8-9, 16:17-20). Hannah promised YHWH she would dedicate her firstborn son to Him and would never cut his hair (1 Samuel 1:11); for this reason Samuel seems to have also been a Nazirite.
In the New Testament, the angel Gabriel told Zechariah his son John would be filled with the Spirit in the womb and should not drink wine or “strong drink” (Luke 1:15); since Luke deliberately portrays John the Baptist as the kind of Samuel to Jesus as David, we should certainly understand John the Baptist as a Nazirite.
While these remain the most prominent examples of Israelites under the Nazirite vow, they would seem to be the exceptions to the rule, since they all seem to have been dedicated as Nazirites from the womb and remained under that vow throughout their lives. The examples of Israelites under a Nazirite vow for a specific period of time feature the Apostle Paul as related by Luke in Acts 18:18 and four otherwise unknown Jewish Christians of which Luke testified in Acts 21:23-24.
Rabbinic commentary on the Nazirite proved somewhat ambivalent. There was clearly some place for the Nazirite vow in Israel: it provided an opportunity for the regular Israelite to dedicate and sanctify themselves to YHWH, and it was the closest the average Israelite would come to being dedicated and sanctified to YHWH like the priests. The independently minded Westerner of the modern era can certainly appreciate the appeal and the option provided for the Israelites; the more communally minded rabbinic community often wondered why one would want to thus separate out from the community to be thus dedicated before YHWH. Provision for the Nazirite vow immediately followed provision for the sotah test of the jealous husband regarding his possibly unfaithful wife (cf. Numbers 5:11-31); the rabbis noted how a purification or sin offering was among the sacrifices required to relieve the Nazirite from his or her vow (cf. Numbers 6:14). Perhaps the rabbis were right in maintaining some temperance regarding over-exuberant enthusiasm for the Nazirite vow among the Israelites; maybe the reasons for dedicating oneself to YHWH as a Nazirite involved, for at least some Israelites, attempts at contrition, or re-affirmation or renewal of relationship with YHWH in a way which alienated them, to some degree for some period of time, from life of the community of the people of God.
YHWH then made provision for Aaron, the High Priest, to be able to bless the Israelites in Numbers 6:22-27. The High Priestly Blessing has since become iconic:
YHWH bless you and protect you;
YHWH make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
YHWH lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace (Numbers 6:24-26).
In Hebrew the prayer nicely was built up upon itself, with the first line as three words, the second line with five words, and the third with seven words, and each line expands and intensifies the expected blessings. The overall message represents the request for YHWH to bless and sustain His people. God’s blessings and protection, to be kept by God, represents the primary desire of every believer in God (Numbers 6:24). From beginning to end of the witness of Scripture, to stand in the Presence of God represents the greatest honor, security, and strength; thus the request for God to make His face shine upon His people and lift His countenance upon them, with the expectation God would give gifts and peace to His people (Numbers 6:25-26).
We have ancient Near Eastern analogues requesting the blessings of the various gods of the nations upon their nations which sound quite similar to this prayer. We have discovered a silver scroll amulet at Ketef Hinnom featuring the words of the High Priestly Blessings dated to around 600 BCE; such represents the earliest witness to anything written in the Hebrew Bible. It is appropriate that this prayer would be the earliest attested message of the Scriptures.
What should Christians make of the Nazirite vow and the High Priestly Blessing? Both Jesus and James have warned us about vows, encouraging Christians to live in their integrity so their yes and no would prove sufficient (Matthew 5:33-37, James 5:12). Yet we should certainly live our lives as dedicated to God and set apart for His purposes (cf. 1 Peter 1:13-16). The words of the High Priestly Blessing can still resonate for Christians; it is right and appropriate for Christians to bless one another by asking God to bless and protect them, to make His face to shine upon them and be gracious to them, and to lift His countenance upon them and give them peace. May we gain insight and edification from YHWH’s provisions for Israel, and faithfully serve God in Christ through the Spirit!
Ethan R. Longhenry
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