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Numbers

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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 6:3 and Amos 2:12

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Numbers describes the Nazirite vow, requiring abstinence from wine and not cutting hair as marks of separation. Amos later refers to Nazirites alongside prophets, criticizing those who pressured them to drink wine and to break their vows.

Passages

Numbers 6:3

Hebrew Bible
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.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Numbers

Amos 2:12

Hebrew Bible
10 I brought you up from the land of Egypt; I led you through the wilderness for 40 years so you could take the Amorites’ land as your own. 11 I made some of your sons prophets and some of your young men Nazirites. Is this not true, you Israelites?” The Lord is speaking. 12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine; you commanded the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy!’ 13 Look! I will press you down, like a cart loaded down with grain presses down. 14 Fast runners will find no place to hide; strong men will have no strength left; warriors will not be able to save their lives.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Amos

References

"... Fraade describes the voluntary self-denial of the Nazirite as an example of “the ascetic tension within rabbinic Judaism.” We do not know what originally motivated the probably ancient custom of the perpetual Nazir, who seems to have had a particular revered function in the community, nor of the Nazirite rule, likely instituted later, of abstaining for a short, defined period from two very different acts: drinking wine and cutting one’s hair. These Nazirite abstentions, however, do not seem to have been stimulated by a quest for self-denial or self-inflicted pain. Amos 2:12 compares the Nazirites to the prophets, which indicates their enigmatic essence and function. In the introductory verse in Numbers 6:2 we find the equivocal meaning ..."
Paul Heger, Women in the Bible, Qumran, and Early Rabbinic Literature: Their Status and Roles, STDJ 110 (Leiden: Brill, 2014), 282–283.

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Numbers 6:3 and Amos 2:12

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