The big picture
God has given Israel, the people camped around his tent, rules about purity and wrongdoing. Moses, their leader, next receives instructions for a special promise of dedication. A Nazarite is a man or woman set apart to God for a stated period. The chapter explains the limits of that promise, how it ends, and how Aaron, the priest, and his sons are to pronounce God's blessing over the people.
In this chapter
- A Nazarite Lives Under Special Limits Numbers 6:1-8
Either a man or a woman can make a Nazarite vow, a promise of special dedication to God.
- Sudden Death Restarts the Vow Numbers 6:9-12
If someone dies suddenly beside a Nazarite, contact with death breaks the person's ritual cleanness.
- The Completed Vow Ends with Offerings Numbers 6:13-21
When the promised period ends, the Nazarite comes to the entrance of the meeting tent.
- God Gives Words of Blessing Numbers 6:22-27
Through Moses, God gives Aaron and his sons words to bless Israel.
Central truth
A special vow sets people apart for God, while the priestly blessing declares his care and peace for all Israel.
Scripture beside the summary
Numbers · King James Version · 27Numbers 6:1-8
A Nazarite Lives Under Special Limits
Either a man or a woman can make a Nazarite vow, a promise of special dedication to God. During that period, the person must avoid wine and every grape product, including fresh and dried grapes. No razor touches the hair, which grows as a visible mark of the vow. The person must also avoid contact with a dead body, even that of a close family member. These limits last throughout the promised time and express the person's special commitment to God.
In everyday life
A research diver signs on for a demanding expedition and accepts strict limits on diet, grooming and contact before deployment. At dinner she refuses something the rest of her family eats freely because she has taken on a particular commitment. The Nazarite's limits express dedication to God, not fitness for a scientific assignment.
Notice
Numbers 6:2 Women as well as men can make this vow. The chapter opens this special form of dedication to both, even though the priestly duties remain separately assigned.
Numbers 6:1-8
King James Version1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2Speak 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:
3He 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.
4All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.
5All 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.
6All the days that he separateth himself unto the LORD he shall come at no dead body.
7He 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.
8All the days of his separation he is holy unto the LORD.
Numbers 6:9-12
Sudden Death Restarts the Vow
If someone dies suddenly beside a Nazarite, contact with death breaks the person's ritual cleanness. The person shaves on the seventh day of cleansing and brings birds to the priest on the eighth. The priest offers one for sin and one as a burnt offering to restore the person's standing before God. A lamb follows as a guilt offering. The earlier days no longer count, so the period of dedication begins again even though the death was unexpected.
In everyday life
The clean room technician discovers that a sudden power failure has broken the seal around her work. She repeats the full preparation instead of counting the earlier clean hours toward the required period. The interruption was not her choice, but the conditions no longer hold. Ritual contact with death is not the same as technical contamination.
Notice
Numbers 6:9 The death happens suddenly beside the Nazarite. The required restart can therefore follow an unexpected event, rather than a planned decision to break the vow.
Numbers 6:9-12
King James Version9And 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.
10And 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:
11And 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.
12And 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.
Numbers 6:13-21
The Completed Vow Ends with Offerings
When the promised period ends, the Nazarite comes to the entrance of the meeting tent. The required gifts include lambs, a ram, bread, grain and drink offerings. The priest presents them for different purposes in worship. The Nazarite shaves and burns the dedicated hair under the peace offering. Portions of the ram and bread are presented before God and belong to the priest. After this, the person can drink wine again. Any additional promise must also be honoured.
In everyday life
A conservator finishes a long restoration contract and meets the client for a formal handover. She returns the borrowed tools, presents the completed work and fulfils the extra repairs she promised. Only then does she leave the project's special restrictions behind. The Nazarite's completion is an act of worship with sacrifices, not a commercial handover.
Notice
Numbers 6:20 Permission to drink wine returns after the closing rites. The restriction belongs to the promised period of dedication rather than to an unchangeable rule for that person.
Numbers 6:13-21
King James Version13And 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:
14And 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,
15And 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.
16And the priest shall bring them before the LORD, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering:
17And 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.
18And 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.
19And 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:
20And 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.
21This 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.
Numbers 6:22-27
God Gives Words of Blessing
Through Moses, God gives Aaron and his sons words to bless Israel. They ask God to protect the people, show them favour and give them peace. The language of God's face turning toward them describes his care and welcome, rather than his looking away. The priests speak the words, but God says he will give the blessing. By placing his name on the people, they publicly mark Israel as belonging to him and living under his care.
In everyday life
The foster father signs a child's new school form and stands beside her as the teacher reads her name aloud. His signature carries a promise of protection and a place to belong. The teacher announces that bond but does not create it. God's blessing reaches further than any parent's ability to keep a child safe.
Notice
Numbers 6:27 The priests place God's name on Israel, but God promises to bless. Their spoken words do not make them the source of the care they announce.
Numbers 6:22-27
King James Version22And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
23Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,
24The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
25The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
26The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
27And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Numbers 6:1 begins with “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,”
Where the chapter turns
Numbers 6:5 forms a natural hinge: “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…”
The final note
Numbers 6:27 leaves the reader with “And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words LORD, offering, separation, days, head, drink help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- unto
- to
- thee
- you
- hath
- has
- spake
- spoke
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
