Go to Related Reading
About this book

Numbers

About this book
Chapter 6

1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to the Israelites, and tell them, ‘When someone—either a man or a woman—takes a special vow, to take a vow as a Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord,⁠ 3 he must separate himself from wine and strong drink; he must drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from strong drink, nor may he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins.⁠ 4 All the days of his separation he must not eat anything that is produced by the grapevine, from seed to skin. 5 “‘All the days of the vow of his separation no razor may be used on his head until the time is fulfilled for which he separated himself to the Lord. He will be holy, and he must let the locks of hair on his head grow long.⁠ 6 “‘All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he must not contact a dead body.⁠ 7 He must not defile himself even for his father or his mother or his brother or his sister if they die, because the separation for his God is on his head. 8 All the days of his separation he must be holy to the Lord. 9 “‘If anyone dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head, then he must shave his head on the day of his purification—on the seventh day he must shave it. 10 On the eighth day he is to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the entrance to the tent of meeting. 11 Then the priest will offer one for a purification offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because of his transgression in regard to the corpse. So he must reconsecrate his head on that day. 12 He must rededicate to the Lord the days of his separation and bring a male lamb in its first year as a reparation offering, but the former days will not be counted because his separation was defiled. 13 “‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite: When the days of his separation are fulfilled, he must be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 14 and he must present his offering to the Lord: one male lamb in its first year without blemish for a burnt offering, one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish for a purification offering, one ram without blemish for a peace offering, 15 and a basket of bread made without yeast, cakes of fine flour mixed with olive oil, wafers made without yeast and smeared with olive oil, and their grain offering and their drink offerings. 16 “‘Then the priest must present all these before the Lord and offer his purification offering and his burnt offering. 17 Then he must offer the ram as a peace offering to the Lord along with the basket of bread made without yeast; the priest must also offer his grain offering and his drink offering. 18 “‘Then the Nazirite must shave his consecrated head at the entrance to the tent of meeting and must take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire where the peace offering is burning. 19 And the priest must take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one cake made without yeast from the basket, and one wafer made without yeast, and put them on the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated head; 20 then the priest must wave them as a wave offering before the Lord; it is a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the raised offering. After this the Nazirite may drink wine. 21 “‘This is the law of the Nazirite who vows to the Lord his offering according to his separation, as well as whatever else he can provide. Thus he must fulfill his vow that he makes, according to the law of his separation.’” 22 The Lord spoke to Moses: 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the way you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: 24 “‘“The Lord bless you and protect you;⁠ 25 The Lord make his face to shine upon you,⁠ and be gracious to you;⁠ 26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”’” 27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

Texts in conversation

Compare Numbers 6:24 and 1 Enoch 1:8

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

Share:

Summary

1 Enoch incorporates the priestly blessing from Numbers 6 with its focus on peace, blessing, and divine favor, using this tradition to describe the future of the righteous and to place its narrative in continuity with the Torah.

Passages

Numbers 6:24

Hebrew Bible
22 The Lord spoke to Moses: 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the way you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: 24 “‘“The Lord bless you and protect you; 25 The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”’” 27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Numbers

1 Enoch 1:8

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
7 The earth will be completely torn apart, and everything on it will perish, and there will be judgment upon all people. 8 But with the righteous, He will establish peace. He will protect the chosen, and mercy will be upon them. They will all belong to God, prosper, and be blessed. He will aid them, and light will shine for them, and He will make peace with them.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

References

"... 1 Enoch 1:8 ... Black comments: “‘Light’ is the lot of the righteous, ‘darkness’ the destiny of the wicked (1 Enoch 10:5; 92:5; 94:9; 103:8). The “light” is likely a reference to the glory of God or the presence of God (Job 29:3; Psalm 118:27; Habakkuk 3:4). In the New Testament, the believer’s destiny is described the same way: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). He will make peace ... And they shall all belong to God, and they shall be prospered, and they shall all be blessed. Because of the context of Mount Sinai (1:4) and the fact that the Greek text aligns well with LXX of the Aaronic benediction of Numbers 6:24–26, scholars have taken this as covenantal language ..."
Michael S. Heiser, A Companion to the Book of Enoch: A Reader's Commentary (Crane, MO: Defender, 2019), 1:56.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Your feedback

Numbers 6:24 and 1 Enoch 1:8

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library