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Good News Translation

Numbers 6:2

to give the following instructions to the people of Israel. Any of you, male or female, who make a special vow to become a nazirite and dedicate yourself to the Lord

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Fraternity;   Nazarite;   Wine;   Scofield Reference Index - Christ Types of;   Nazariteship;   Separation;   Thompson Chain Reference - Asceticism;   Nazarites;   Self-Indulgence-Self-Denial;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Nazarites;   Vows;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Nazarite;   Vow;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Nazirite;   Samson;   Vow;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Abstain, Abstinence;   Priest, Priesthood;   Easton Bible Dictionary - John the Baptist;   Nazarite;   Samson;   Wine;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - John the Baptist;   Nazarite;   Pentateuch;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Consecration;   Hair;   Nazirite;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Clean and Unclean;   Nazirite;   Numbers, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Nazirite;   Vote;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Nazarite ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Nazarene;   Nazarites;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Camp and encamp;   Nazarites;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Naz'arite,;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Nazarite;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Samuel the Prophet;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Hair;   Nazirite;   Separate;   Singular;   Woman;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Blessing, Priestly;   Hatra'ah;   Mishnah;   Nazarite;   Nazir;   Priestly Code;   Shekinah;   Valuation;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
"Speak to the children of Yisra'el, and tell them: When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazir, to separate himself to the LORD,
King James Version
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 :
Lexham English Bible
"Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When a man or a woman takes a special vow, a vow of a Nazirite, to keep separate for Yahweh,
New Century Version
"Tell the Israelites: ‘If men or women want to promise to belong to the Lord in a special way, they will be called Nazirites.
New English Translation
"Speak to the Israelites, and tell them, ‘When either a man or a woman takes a special vow, to take a vow as a Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord ,
Amplified Bible
"Say to the sons of Israel, 'When a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, that is, one separated and dedicated to the LORD,
New American Standard Bible
"Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When a man or woman makes a special vow, namely, the vow of a Nazirite, to live as a Nazirite for the LORD,
Geneva Bible (1587)
Speake vnto the children of Israel, & say vnto them, When a man or a woman doeth separate themselues to vowe a vowe of a Nazarite to separate himselfe vnto the Lord,
Legacy Standard Bible
"Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to dedicate himself as a Nazirite to Yahweh,
Contemporary English Version
to say to the people of Israel: If any of you want to dedicate yourself to me by vowing to become a Nazirite,
Complete Jewish Bible
"Tell the people of Isra'el, ‘When either a man or a woman makes a special kind of vow, the vow of a nazir, consecrating himself to Adonai ;
Darby Translation
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If a man or a woman have vowed the special vow of a Nazarite, to consecrate themselves to Jehovah;
Easy-to-Read Version
"Tell the Israelites this: If there are people, men or women, who want to make a vow dedicating themselves to the Lord as Nazirites for a time, this is what they must do:
English Standard Version
"Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord ,
George Lamsa Translation
Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, When a man or woman shall separate himself to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate himself to the LORD,
Christian Standard Bible®
“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When a man or woman makes a special vow, a Nazirite vow, to consecrate himself to the Lord,
Literal Translation
Speak to the sons of Israel and you shall say to them, When a man or a woman shall vow a vow, the vow of a Nazarite to be separated to Jehovah:
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Speake vnto the children of Israel, and saye vnto them: Whan a man or woman separateth them selues, to vowe a vowe of abstinence vnto the LORDE,
American Standard Version
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself unto Jehovah,
Bible in Basic English
Say to the children of Israel, If a man or a woman takes an oath to keep himself separate and give himself to the Lord;
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Speake vnto the children of Israel, and say vnto them: Whe either man or woman doth seperate them selues to vowe a vowe of a Nazarite, to seperate them selues vnto the Lorde:
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When either man or woman shall clearly utter a vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to consecrate himself unto the LORD,
King James Version (1611)
Speake vnto the children of Israel, and say vnto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselues to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselues vnto the Lord:
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, Whatsoever man or woman shall specially vow a vow to separate oneself with purity to the Lord,
English Revised Version
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself unto the LORD:
Berean Standard Bible
"Speak to the Israelites and tell them: If a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD,
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and thou schalt seie to hem, Whanne a man ether a womman makith auow, that thei be halewid, and thei wolen halewe hem silf to the Lord,
Young's Literal Translation
`Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou hast said unto them, When a man or woman doeth singularly, by vowing a vow of a Nazarite, to be separate to Jehovah;
Update Bible Version
Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to Yahweh,
Webster's Bible Translation
Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When either man or woman shall separate [themselves] to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate [themselves] to the LORD.
World English Bible
"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to Yahweh,
New King James Version
"Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: "When either a man or woman consecrates an offering to take the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD,
New Living Translation
"Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. "If any of the people, either men or women, take the special vow of a Nazirite, setting themselves apart to the Lord in a special way,
New Life Bible
"Say to the people of Israel, ‘A man or woman may make a special promise, the promise of a Nazirite, to set himself apart to the Lord.
New Revised Standard
Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When either men or women make a special vow, the vow of a nazirite, to separate themselves to the Lord ,
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou shalt say unto them, - When any man or woman, would make the special vow of One Separate, by separating himself unto Yahweh,
Douay-Rheims Bible
Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: When a man, or woman, shall make a vow to be sanctified, and will consecrate themselves to the Lord:
Revised Standard Version
"Say to the people of Israel, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD,
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to dedicate himself to the LORD,

Contextual Overview

1 The Lord commanded Moses 2 to give the following instructions to the people of Israel. Any of you, male or female, who make a special vow to become a nazirite and dedicate yourself to the Lord 3 shall abstain from wine and beer. You shall not drink any kind of drink made from grapes or eat any grapes or raisins. 4 As long as you are a nazirite, you shall not eat anything that comes from a grapevine, not even the seeds or skins of grapes. 5 As long as you are under the nazirite vow, you must not cut your hair or shave. You are bound by the vow for the full time that you are dedicated to the Lord , and you shall let your hair grow. 6Your hair is the sign of your dedication to God, and so you must not defile yourself by going near a corpse, not even that of your father, mother, brother, or sister. 8 As long as you are a nazirite, you are consecrated to the Lord . 9 If your consecrated hair is defiled because you are right beside someone who suddenly dies, you must wait seven days and then shave your head; and so you become ritually clean. 10 On the eighth day you shall bring two doves or two pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord 's presence. 11 The priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, to perform the ritual of purification for you because of your contact with a corpse. On the same day you shall reconsecrate your hair

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

When: Numbers 6:5, Numbers 6:6, Exodus 33:16, Leviticus 20:26, Proverbs 18:1, Romans 1:1, 2 Corinthians 6:16, Galatians 1:15, Hebrews 7:27

separate themselves: The word yaphli, rendered "shall separate themselves," signifies, "the doing of something extraordinary," and is the same word as is used concerning the making a singular vow. - Leviticus 27:2, it seems to convey the idea of a person's acting from extraordinary zeal for God and religion.

to vow: Leviticus 27:2, Judges 13:5, 1 Samuel 1:28, Amos 2:11, Amos 2:12, Luke 1:15, Acts 21:23, Acts 21:24

to separate themselves: or, to make themselves Nazarites, Lahazzir, from nazar, to be separate; hence nazir, a Nazarite, i.e., a person separated; one peculiarly devoted to the service of God by being separated from all servile employments. The Nazarites were of two kinds: such as were devoted to God by their parents in their infancy, or even sometimes before they were born; and such as devoted themselves. The former were Nazarites for life; and the latter commonly bound themselves to observe the laws of the Nazarites for a limited time. The Nazarites for life were not bound to the same strictness as the others, concerning whom the laws relate.

Reciprocal: Genesis 49:26 - was separate Numbers 8:14 - separate Judges 13:4 - drink not Jeremiah 35:6 - Ye shall Lamentations 4:7 - Nazarites

Cross-References

Genesis 3:6
The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it.
Genesis 4:26
Seth had a son whom he named Enosh. It was then that people began using the Lord 's holy name in worship.
Genesis 6:1
When people had spread all over the world, and daughters were being born,
Genesis 6:2
some of the heavenly beings saw that these young women were beautiful, so they took the ones they liked.
Genesis 6:3
Then the Lord said, "I will not allow people to live forever; they are mortal. From now on they will live no longer than 120 years."
Genesis 6:4
In those days, and even later, there were giants on the earth who were descendants of human women and the heavenly beings. They were the great heroes and famous men of long ago.
Genesis 6:6
he was sorry that he had ever made them and put them on the earth. He was so filled with regret
Genesis 6:7
that he said, "I will wipe out these people I have created, and also the animals and the birds, because I am sorry that I made any of them."
Genesis 6:8
But the Lord was pleased with Noah.
Genesis 6:12
God looked at the world and saw that it was evil, for the people were all living evil lives.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,.... Whom the following law only concerned, and not Gentiles; so runs the Jewish canon,

"the Gentiles have no Nazariteship, though they may bring their vows and freewill offerings as an Israelite, yet if they vow the vow of a Nazarite, the law of the Nazarite is not obliging on them, or they bound by it; but it is free for them to drink wine, and defile themselves for the dead; for it is written, "speak unto the children of Israel" q:''

when either man or woman shall separate [themselves] to vow a vow of a Nazarite; or "do a wonderful thing" r; something unusual and uncommon, and what is out of the way of the men of the world, who give themselves up to pleasure, and have little regard to the worship and service of God; wherefore for a person, a man or woman, to vow abstinence from wine and dress, and from the company of others, and to oblige themselves to strict and close devotion to God, was something singular and surprising. This is to be understood of such persons who were at their own disposal; for such that were in their minority, and under the power of parents, or were married women, if they vowed, their vows did not stand, and their parents or husbands could disannul them, unless they had consented to them by their silence, when they heard them made, Numbers 30:3. There were various sorts of Nazarites; some were appointed by God, as Samson; some were devoted by their parents, as Samuel; and some by themselves, concerning whom is this law more especially; some were perpetual Nazarites, a Nazarite for life, as the two persons just mentioned; though the Jews distinguish between a Samsonian Nazarite, and a perpetual one s; and some were only for a certain time, according as they vowed:

to separate [themselves] unto the Lord; the Targum of Jonathan is, "to the name of the Lord"; to the honour of his name. Such persons devoted themselves, and set apart their time to serve the Lord in a stricter and purer manner than others, and therefore were had in great account, Lamentations 4:7; they were types of Christ, who, though he was not strictly a Nazarite, but a Nazarene, yet answered to the Nazarites in his being set apart in divine predestination by his Father to the office of Mediator; in the sanctification of himself, and devoting himself, his time and service, to his Father's glory; and in his being holy and harmless in his life and conversation, and separate from sinners: and they were also emblems of the special people of God, who are a separate people in election, redemption, and calling, and in the intercession of Christ; and as they will be at the last judgment, and to all eternity, and should be now separate from others in their lives and conversations.

q Misn. Nazir, c. 9. sect. 1. Maimon Bartenora in ib. r יפלא "mirificaverit", Montanus "si mirandum aliquid fecerit", Munster; and some in Fagius and Vatablus; so Aben Ezra. s Misn. Nazir, c. 1. sect. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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, which was the voluntary adoption for a time of obligations to high and strict modes of self-dedication resembling, and indeed in some particulars exceeding, those under which the priests were placed. The present enactments do not institute a new kind of observance, but only regulate one already familiar to the Israelites Numbers 6:2.

Numbers 6:2

A Nazarite - Strictly, Nazirite. This term signifies “separated” i. e., as the words following show, “unto God.” It became a technical term at an early date; compare Judges 13:5, Judges 13:7; Judges 16:17.

Numbers 6:3

Liquor of grapes - i. e. a drink made of grape-skins macerated in water.

Numbers 6:4

From the kernels even to the husk - A sour drink was made from the stones of unripe grapes; and cakes were also made of the husks Hosea 3:1. This interdict figures that separation from the general society of men to which the Nazarite for the time was consecrated.

Numbers 6:5

Among the Jews the abundance of the hair was considered to betoken physical strength and perfection (compare 2 Samuel 14:25-26), and baldness was regarded as a grave blemish (compare Leviticus 21:20 note, Leviticus 13:40 ff; 2 Kings 2:23; Isaiah 3:24). Thus, 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.

Numbers 6:7

The consecration of his God - i. e. the unshorn locks: compare Leviticus 25:5 note, where the vine, left during the Sabbatical year untouched by the hand of man, either for pruning or for vintage, is called simply a “Nazarite.”

The third rule of the Nazarite interdicted him from contracting any ceremonial defilement even under circumstances which excused such defilement in others: compare Leviticus 21:1-3.

Numbers 6:9-12

Prescriptions to meet the case of a sudden death taking place “by him” (i. e. in his presence). The days of the dedication of the Nazarite had to be recommenced.

Numbers 6:13

When the days of his separation are fulfilled - 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. To permit the vow to be taken for very short periods would diminish its solemnity and estimation.

Numbers 6:14, Numbers 6:15

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. The offerings, both ordinary and additional, required on the completion of the Nazarite vow involved considerable expense, and it was regarded as a pious work to provide the poor with the means of making them (compare Acts 21:23 ff; Acts 1:0 Macc. 3:49).

Numbers 6:18

Shave the head - 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 (compare the marginal reference).

Numbers 6:20

The priest shall wave them - i. e. by placing his hands under those of the Nazarite: compare Leviticus 7:30.

Numbers 6:21

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.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Numbers 6:2. When either man or woman shall separate, c. — The word נזיר nazir, from נזר nazar, to separate, signifies merely a separated person, i. e., one peculiarly devoted to the service of God by being separated from all servile employments. From the Nazarites sprang the Rechabites, from the Rechabites the Essenes, from the Essenes the Anchorites or Hermits, and in imitation of those, the different monastic orders. Some contend strongly that the Nazarite was a type of our Lord but neither analogy nor proof can be produced. Our blessed Lord both drank wine and touched the dead, which no Nazarite would do: as to his either shaving his hair or letting it grow, we know nothing. His being called a Nazarene, Matthew 2:23, is nothing to the purpose, as it can mean no more than either that he was an inhabitant of Nazareth, which was a place of no credit, and therefore used as a term of reproach; or that he was in a general sense consecrated to the service of God-so were Samson, Samuel, Jeremiah, and John Baptist; or rather, that he was the נצר netser or BRANCH, Isaiah 11:1, and צמח tsemach, Numbers 3:8; Numbers 6:12, which is quite a different word; but this title is expressly applied to our blessed Lord by the above prophets; but in no place do they or any other prophets call him a Nazarite, in the sense in which נזיר nazir is used. Indeed it could not in truth be applied to him, as the distinguishing marks of a Nazarite never belonged to him. He was, it is true, the נצר netser or branch out of the root of Jesse, the genuine heir to the throne of David, whose dominion should extend over the universe, who should be King of kings, and Lord of Lords; but the word ναζωραιος, Matthew 2:23, signifies merely a Nazoraean, or inhabitant of Nazareth.


 
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