Commentaria in Numeros
Chapter 6. Synopsis of the Chapter
The vow, consecration and rite of the Nazarites are described. Secondly, verse 23, the form of the blessing is given, with which the priests are to bless the people.
1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2. 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; 3. they shall abstain from wine, and from every thing that may make a man drunk. They shall not drink vinegar of wine, or of any other drink, nor anything that is pressed out of the grape; they shall not eat grapes, either fresh or dried; 4. all the days that they are consecrated to the Lord by vow, they shall eat nothing that comes of the vineyard, from the raisin even to the kernel. 5. All the time of his separation no razor shall pass over his head, until the day be fulfilled that he consecrateth himself to the Lord. He shall be holy, while the hair of his head groweth. 6. All the time of his consecration he shall not go in to any dead, 7. neither shall he be defiled even at the death of his father, or of his mother, or of his brother or sister, because the consecration of his God is upon his head. 8. All the days of his separation he shall be holy to the Lord. 9. But if any man die suddenly before him, the head of his consecration shall be defiled: and he shall shave it forthwith on the day of his purification, and again on the seventh day; 10. and on the eighth day he shall offer two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest in the entrance of the covenant of the testimony, 11. and the priest shall offer one for sin, and the other for a holocaust, and shall pray for him, because he hath sinned by the dead: and he shall sanctify his head that day; 12. and shall consecrate to the Lord the days of his separation, offering a lamb of one year for sin: but so that the former days be made void, because his sanctification was profaned. 13. This is the law of consecration. When the days which he had determined by vow are fulfilled, he shall bring him to the door of the tabernacle of the covenant; 14. and shall offer his oblation to the Lord, a lamb of one year without blemish for a holocaust, and a ewe lamb of one year without blemish for sin, and a ram without blemish for a peace-offering, 15. a basket also of unleavened bread tempered with oil, and wafers without leaven anointed with oil, and the libations of every one: 16. which the priest shall offer before the Lord, and shall do as well for sin as for a holocaust. 17. But the ram he shall offer for a sacrifice of peace-offerings to the Lord, offering together the basket of unleavened bread, and the libations that are due by custom. 18. Then the Nazarite shall be shaved before the door of the tabernacle of the covenant from the hair of his consecration; and he shall take his hair and put it upon the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace-offerings. 19. And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one cake without leaven out of the basket, and one wafer without leaven, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after his head is shaven. 20. And taking them again from him, he shall elevate them in the sight of the Lord: and being sanctified they shall be the priest’s, as the breast which was commanded to be separated, and the shoulder. After this the Nazarite may drink wine. 21. This is the law of the Nazarite, when he hath vowed his oblation to the Lord in the time of his consecration, besides those things which his hand shall find, according to that which he had vowed in his mind, so shall he do for the perfection of his sanctification. 22. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 23. Say to Aaron and his sons: Thus shall you bless the children of Israel, and shall say to them: 24. The Lord bless thee, and keep thee. 25. The Lord show his face to thee, and have mercy on thee. 26. The Lord turn his countenance to thee, and give thee peace. 27. And they shall invoke my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.
Verse 2. WHEN A MAN OR WOMAN SHALL MAKE A VOW TO BE SANCTIFIED.—In Hebrew, “when they shall have made a marvel in vowing,” that is when they shall have vowed the vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves from the common custom and way of life of men (which is something new and marvellous), and consecrate themselves to the Lord. Sanctification here signifies, then, separation from the common life of men, and abstinence from wine and strong drink, that is from every drink that can make drunk, and that for the honour and worship of God; from which separation the Nazarite, that is the separated one, is named. Of which more on verse 7. The Nazarites among the Jews were religious men who, that they might be freer for the law and for meditation on divine things, renounced the commerce of others, either always or for a time, and gave themselves wholly to the Lord; or who, having used wine and other delights too freely, afterwards bound themselves to abstinence and a stricter kind of life, to afflict the body. These were the penitent Nazarites; the former were as it were contemplative Nazarites. So Vatablus. Moreover the Nazarites were of two kinds: for some had a vow for ever, as Samuel, 1 Kings 1, and Samson, Judges 13:7; others for a fixed time, which was not defined by the law, but each defined the time for himself according to his devotion. Such a Nazarite was
Verse 3. NOR ANYTHING THAT IS PRESSED OUT OF THE GRAPE.—In Hebrew, “the residue of grapes,” that is, what is pressed out of the remaining moisture from grapes already pressed and afterwards either soaked in water or boiled. For the Nazarites could eat or drink nothing of the kind.
Verse 4. FROM THE RAISIN EVEN TO THE KERNEL THEY SHALL NOT EAT—that is, not even a kernel of the grape, or nothing at all which belongs to the grape, they shall eat. For this is what this phrase of the Hebrews signifies (1). Similar is chapter 7, verse 4, in the Hebrew, and Genesis 14:23, where it is said: “From the very woof thread to the shoe-latchet,” that is, I will not take even a thread or latchet of all that is thine. Hence it is plain that the Nazarites could not eat fresh and dried grapes.
Verse 5. NO RAZOR SHALL PASS OVER HIS HEAD—namely to shave or cut the hair of the Nazarite. UNTIL THE DAY BE FULFILLED THAT HE CONSECRATETH HIMSELF TO THE LORD.—In Hebrew, “until the days be fulfilled in which he separated himself to the Lord.” HE SHALL BE HOLY WHILE THE HAIR OF HIS HEAD GROWETH—this my precept permits the promised hair to grow. God commanded the Nazarite to let his hair grow, partly that by this sign it might be shown that he was separated from the care and delights of the body, partly that at the end of his vow he might give it to the Lord.
Verse 6. HE SHALL NOT GO IN TO ANY DEAD—he shall not go to the funeral of a dead person, not even of father or mother. In which matter the Nazarites were more perfect than the common priests; for these could attend the funeral of a father, mother, brother and sister, and the Nazarites are equalled to the high Pontiff, who could attend the funeral neither of father nor mother, Leviticus 21:11.
Note: Among the Hebrews one was defiled by the dead in three ways: first, if he touched a corpse or bones, even found in the field; secondly, if he went to the funeral of those mourning the dead, or was in the house in which a dead person lies, or in the act of giving up the ghost, says Abulensis. Thirdly, if he touched any vessels of the dead, as is plain from Numbers 19:10 and following.
Verse 7. BECAUSE THE CONSECRATION OF HIS GOD IS UPON HIS HEAD—as if to say: Because the uncut hair is upon his head, which shows him to be separated, crowned and consecrated to the Lord; and in this hair, or head of hair, appears to have been the chief ceremony of the Nazarites, and that by which they were above all recognized and named. Hence follows: