Commentary - Numbers 6:1-21

Bird's-eye view

Numbers 6 provides the legal framework for one of the most striking expressions of personal piety in the Old Testament: the Nazirite vow. This is not a command for all, but a provision for any man or woman who felt called to a period of extraordinary devotion to Yahweh. The chapter lays out the three central prohibitions of the vow (abstinence from all grape products, letting the hair grow long, and avoiding contact with the dead), the procedures for dealing with accidental defilement, and the concluding sacrifices that mark the vow's successful completion. This entire institution serves as a powerful, living object lesson. It is a picture of what Israel as a whole was called to be, a people separated from the world and consecrated entirely to God. Ultimately, it points forward to the Lord Jesus Christ, the only one who lived a life of perfect separation and holiness unto the Father.

Outline

Context in Numbers

The book of Numbers is about the organization of Israel as a holy army on the march from Sinai to the Promised Land. Chapters 1-4 deal with the census and arrangement of the camp around the central tabernacle. Chapter 5 deals with purity within the camp. It is therefore fitting that chapter 6 turns from corporate purity to the potential for extraordinary individual purity. The Nazirite vow is a provision for laypeople to attain a level of consecration that, in some respects, even surpassed that of the priests. It demonstrates that holiness was not the exclusive domain of the Levites, but a call that could be embraced by any Israelite who wished to draw near to God in a special way.

Key Issues

The Vow of the Nazirite

1-2 Again Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “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,”

The first thing to notice is that God Himself institutes this vow. This is not some man-made religious exercise. And right out of the gate, it is made available to both men and women. In a patriarchal culture, this is a radical statement of spiritual equality before God. A woman could take this vow and consecrate herself to Yahweh with the same gravity as any man. The vow is called "special," from a Hebrew word that means to do something wonderful or extraordinary. This is for the person who wants to go above and beyond. The heart of it is in the name itself: a Nazirite is one who is separated, or dedicated, to Yahweh. Separation is never an end in itself; it is always separation from something in order to be separated to Someone.

3-4 he shall abstain as a Nazirite from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. All the days of his Nazirite vow he shall not eat anything that is produced by the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin.

The first prohibition is a total fast from the fruit of the vine. In Scripture, wine is a symbol of earthly joy, celebration, and God's good blessing. To abstain from it is to make a profound statement: "For this period of time, my joy will not be found in the gifts, but in the Giver alone." The prohibition is comprehensive, covering everything from fine wine to sour vinegar, from fresh grapes to raisins, even down to the seeds and skin. This teaches us that true consecration is not a halfway measure. When you set yourself apart for God, you go all the way. It is a temporary setting aside of a created good to pursue the uncreated Good.

5 ‘All the days of his vow as a Nazirite no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled for which he dedicated himself as a Nazirite to Yahweh; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long.

The second prohibition is the unshorn head. This was the public sign, the banner of the Nazirite. You could not be a secret Nazirite. Your hair announced your status to the entire community. In the Bible, hair often represents vitality, glory, and strength. The Nazirite was letting his glory grow, but not for himself. It was God's glory, on public display. This hair was his crown of consecration. We see this with Samson, whose strength was not in the hair itself, but in the vow that the hair represented. When his hair was cut, it was a sign that the covenant of his consecration was broken.

6-8 ‘All the days of his dedication as a Nazirite to Yahweh he shall not go near to a dead person. He shall not defile himself for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because the Nazirite vow to his God is on his head. All the days of his Nazirite vow he is holy to Yahweh.

The third prohibition is the avoidance of the dead. Death is the ultimate consequence of sin, the great uncleanness. The Nazirite was to be a walking picture of life consecrated to the living God, and so he was to be radically separated from death's defilement. This requirement was even stricter than that for the priests; it superseded the most sacred of familial duties, the burial of a parent or sibling. Your vow to God takes precedence over every other loyalty. The reason is given plainly: "because the Nazirite vow to his God is on his head." His consecration defines him. The summary statement says it all: "he is holy to Yahweh." The three external signs pointed to this internal reality.

9-12 ‘But if a man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles the head of hair during his Nazirite vow, then he shall shave his head on the day when he becomes clean; he shall shave it on the seventh day. Then on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the doorway of the tent of meeting. And the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering and make atonement for him concerning his sin because of the dead person. And that same day he shall set apart his head as holy, and shall dedicate to Yahweh the days of his Nazirite vow and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering; but the former days will be void because his Nazirite vow was defiled.

Here we see God's gracious provision for failure. We live in a fallen world, and our best attempts at holiness are fragile. Accidental defilement was a real possibility. The answer was not despair, but atonement. A sin offering was needed for the cleansing, a burnt offering for rededication, and a guilt offering for the trespass against the holy vow. The head is shaved, a symbol of starting over. But notice the stark consequence: "the former days will be void." All the time invested is lost. This underscores the absolute nature of holiness. A compromised consecration requires a complete reset, made possible only through the blood of a sacrifice. This points us directly to the gospel. When we sin, we do not despair; we run to Christ, our sacrifice, who cleanses us and enables us to begin again.

13-21 ‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite when the days of his Nazirite vow are fulfilled...’

The completion of the vow is not an anticlimax but a grand liturgical finale at the tabernacle. The Nazirite brings a full range of offerings. A burnt offering for his total devotion. A sin offering, acknowledging that even a successfully completed vow is tainted by the sinfulness of the one who made it. A peace offering to celebrate restored fellowship. The climax is the shaving of the head. The hair, that crown of glory and symbol of his vow, is not kept as a souvenir. It is placed on the fire of the peace offering, ascending in smoke to God. All the glory is given back to the one from whom it came. Only after this complete surrender, after the priest has performed the wave offering, is the vow complete. "And afterward the Nazirite may drink wine." He is released back into the rhythms of ordinary life, his extraordinary service accepted by God.

Application

The Nazirite vow, in its specific regulations, belongs to the Old Covenant and has been fulfilled in Christ. We are not commanded to abstain from grape juice or to avoid haircuts. However, the deep principles of the vow are absolutely binding on every Christian. We are all called to be New Covenant Nazirites.

Our separation is not from the fruit of the vine, but from the deeds of the flesh. We are to be a people set apart from the world, holy to the Lord (Rom 12:1-2). Our "long hair" is our open, unashamed, and public testimony to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It is the visible glory of our consecration that we must never allow the world to cut short. We are to avoid "dead bodies," that is, the dead works of legalism and the corrupting moral decay of our culture. And when we are defiled by sin, as we inevitably are, we do not bring turtledoves. We run to the cross, confess our sin, and are cleansed by the one, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice of our High Priest, Jesus Christ (1 John 1:9). The entire Christian life is to be one of voluntary, joyful, and total consecration to the God who has redeemed us.