Nazirite
Encyclopedia
In the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...

, a nazirite or nazarite, (in Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

: נזיר, nazir), refers to one who voluntarily took a vow described in . The term "nazirite" comes from the Hebrew word nazir meaning "consecrated" or "separated". This vow required the man or woman to:
  • Abstain from wine
    Wine
    Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

    , wine vinegar
    Vinegar
    Vinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...

    , grapes, raisins, intoxicating liquors
    Alcoholic beverage
    An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...

     and vinegar distilled from such.
  • Refrain from cutting the hair on one's head
  • Avoid corpses and graves, even those of family members, and any structure which contains such


After following these requirements for a designated period of time (which would be specified in the individual's vow), the person would immerse in a Mikvah
Mikvah
Mikveh is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism...

 and make three offerings
Korban
The term offering as found in the Hebrew Bible in relation to the worship of Ancient Israel is mainly represented by the Hebrew noun korban whether for an animal or other offering...

, a lamb as a burnt offering
Burnt Offering
Burnt Offering was a punk fanzine based in and around Northampton, England, from 1979 to 1980.In keeping with the DIY style of the time, Burnt Offerings house style was a mixture of badly-typed articles, ransom note effect lettering and cartoon drawings...

 (olah), a ewe as a sin-offering
Sin-offering
A sin offering is a biblical sacrifice offered to achieve atonement for the committing of an unintentional sin.-Etymology:The Hebrew noun hatta'at "sin" comes from the verb hata' "to sin." The first use is in the sentence "sin lies at your door" to Cain in Genesis 4. The noun hata'at can mean...

 (hatat), and a ram as a peace offering (shelamim), in addition to a basket of unleavened bread, grain offerings and drink offerings, which accompanied the peace offering. They would also shave their head in the outer courtyard of the Temple and then place the hair on the same fire as the peace offering.

The nazirite is described as being "holy unto YHWH" , yet at the same time must bring a sin offering. This has led to divergent approaches to the nazirite in the Talmud, and later authorities, with some viewing the Nazirite as an ideal, and others viewing him as a sinner.

Laws of the nazirite

Halakha
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...

 (Jewish law) has a rich tradition on the laws of the nazirite. These laws were first recorded in the Mishna, and Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

 in tractate Nazir
Nazir (Talmud)
Nazir is a treatise of the Mishnah and the Tosefta and in both Talmuds, devoted chiefly to a discussion of the laws of the Nazirite laid down in Numbers 6:1-21. In the Tosefta its title is Nezirut...

. They were later codified by Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...

 in the Mishneh Torah
Mishneh Torah
The Mishneh Torah subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka is a code of Jewish religious law authored by Maimonides , one of history's foremost rabbis...

Hafla'ah, Nazir. From the perspective of Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...

 these laws are not a historical curiosity but can be practiced even today. However, since there is now no temple in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...

 to complete the vow, and any vow would be permanent, modern rabbinical authorities strongly discourage the practice to the point where it is almost unheard today.

As a vow

All the laws of vows in general apply also to the nazirite vow. As with other vows, a father has the ability to annul the nazirite vow of his young daughter, and a husband has the ability to annul a vow by his wife, when they first hear about it . Likewise all of the laws related to intent and conditional vows apply also to nazirite vows.

Types of nazirites

In general there are three types of nazirites:
  • A nazirite for a set time
  • A permanent nazirite
  • A nazirite like Samson
    Samson
    Samson, Shimshon ; Shamshoun or Sampson is the third to last of the Judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Tanakh ....



Each one of these has slightly different laws. For example, a permanent nazirite is allowed to cut his hair once a year if the hair is bothersome. A Samson-like nazirite is a permanent nazirite and is not enjoined to avoid corpses. These types of nazirites have no source in the Bible but are known through tradition.

A person can become a nazirite whether or not the Temple in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...

 is standing. However, lacking the temple there is no way to bring the offerings that end the nazirite period. As such the person would de facto be a permanent nazirite.

Redoing the nazirism

If a nazirite fails in fulfilling these three obligations there may be consequences. All or part of the person's time as a nazirite may need to be repeated. Furthermore, the person may be obligated to bring sacrifices.

Whether a nazirite has to repeat time as a nazirite depends on what part of the nazirite vow was transgressed. A nazirite who becomes defiled by a corpse is obligated to start the entire nazirite period over again. In the Mishna, Queen Helena vowed to be a nazirite for seven years, but became defiled near the end of each of two of her first nazirite periods, forcing her to twice start over. She was a nazirite for a total of 21 years. Nazirites who shave their hair are obligated to redo the last 30 days of the nazirite period. However, if the nazirite drinks wine, the nazirite period continues as normal.

Becoming a nazirite

A Jewish man or woman can only become a nazirite by an intentional verbal declaration. This declaration can be in any language, and can be something as minor as saying "me too" as a nazirite passes by.

A person can specify the duration as any period of 30 days or more. If a person does not specify, or specifies a time less than 30 days, the vow is for 30 days. A person who says "I am a nazirite forever" or "I am a nazirite for all my life" is a permanent nazirite and slightly different laws apply. Likewise if a person says "I am a nazirite like Samson," the laws of a Samson-like nazirite apply. However if a person says that he is a nazirite for a thousand years, he is a regular nazirite.

A father, but not a mother, can declare his son, but not his daughter, a nazirite. However the child or any close family member has a right to refuse this status.

Being a nazirite

This vow required the man or woman to observe the following:
  • Abstain from wine
    Wine
    Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

    , wine vinegar
    Vinegar
    Vinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...

    , grapes, raisins;
  • Refrain from cutting the hair on one's head;
  • Avoid corpses and graves, even those of family members, and any structure which contains such.


It is also forbidden for the nazirite to have grape or grape derivatives, even if they are not alcoholic. According to Rabbinical interpretation, there is no prohibition for the nazirite to drink alcoholic beverages not derived from grapes. According to non-Rabbinical interpretation, a Nazirite is forbidden to consume any alcohol, and vinegar from such alcohol, regardless of its source. The laws of wine or grapes mixing in other food is similar to other dietary laws
Kashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...

 that apply to all Jews.

A nazirite can groom his hair with his hand or scratch his head and needn’t be concerned if some hair falls out. However a nazirite cannot comb his hair since it is a near certainty to pull out some hair. A nazirite is not allowed to use a chemical depilatory
Chemical depilatory
A chemical depilatory is a cosmetic preparation used to remove the hair from the skin on the human body. Currently, a common active ingredient is calcium thioglycolate, which breaks down the disulphide bonds in keratin and weakens the hair so that it is easily scraped off where it emerges from the...

 that will remove hair. A nazirite that recovers from Tzaraath
Tzaraath
The Hebrew noun tzaraath describes a disfigurative condition mainly referred to in chapters 13-14 of Leviticus, as well as conditions equivalent to be "mildew" on clothes and houses.Tzaraath affects both animate...

, a skin disease
Dermatology
Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin and its diseases, a unique specialty with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist takes care of diseases, in the widest sense, and some cosmetic problems of the skin, scalp, hair, and nails....

 described in , is obligated to cut his hair despite being a nazirite.

The nazirite (except for a Samson-like nazirite as stated above) may not become ritually impure by proximity to a dead body. Causes include being under the same roof as a corpse. However a nazirite can contract other kinds of ritual impurity. A nazirite that finds an unburied corpse is obligated to bury it, even though he will become defiled in the process.

Ending of the nazirite period

At the end of the nazirite period the nazirite brings three sacrifices
Korban
The term offering as found in the Hebrew Bible in relation to the worship of Ancient Israel is mainly represented by the Hebrew noun korban whether for an animal or other offering...

 in the Temple in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...

. The first is a ewe for a chatat (sin offering), the second is lamb for an olah (elevation offering), and finally a ram as a shelamim (peace offering) along with a basket of matzah and their grain and drink offerings. After bringing the sacrifices the nazirite shaves his or her head in the outer courtyard of the Temple.

Part of the Nazir's commencement offering is given to the Kohen. This gift is listed as one of The twenty-four Kohanic gifts
The twenty-four Kohanic gifts
The twenty four priestly gifts, are a description in the Gemara tradition of offerings given to the Jewish priests. The adjective "kohanic" means "of a kohen", relating to a Jewish priest....

.

Attitudes toward Nazirites

The nazirite is called "holy unto the Lord" (Numbers 6:8), but at the same time must bring a sin-offering (Numbers 6:11) and his sins are explicitly referred to ("and make atonement for that which he sinned"). This apparent contradiction, pointed out in the Babylonian Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

, led to two divergent views. Samuel
Samuel of Nehardea
Samuel of Nehardea or Samuel bar Abba was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an Amora of the first generation; son of Abba bar Abba and head of the Yeshiva at Nehardea. He was a teacher of halakha, judge, physician, and astronomer. He was born about 165 at Nehardea, in Babylonia...

 and Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

 Eliezer Hakappar, focusing on the sin-offering of the nazirite, regarded nazirites, as well as anyone who fasted when not obligated to or took any vow whatsoever, as a sinner. A different Rabbi Eliezer argues that the nazirite is indeed holy and the sin referred to in the verse applies only to a nazirite who became ritually defiled.

Simeon the Just
Simeon the Just
Simeon the Just was a Jewish High Priest during the time of the Second Temple...

 was opposed to the nazirite vow and ate of the sacrifice
Korban
The term offering as found in the Hebrew Bible in relation to the worship of Ancient Israel is mainly represented by the Hebrew noun korban whether for an animal or other offering...

 offered by a nazirite on only a single occasion. Once a youth with flowing hair came to him and wished to have his head shorn. When asked his motive, the youth replied that he had seen his own face reflected in a spring and it had pleased him so that he feared lest his beauty might become an idol to him. He therefore wished to offer up his hair to God, and Simeon then partook of the sin-offering
Sin-offering
A sin offering is a biblical sacrifice offered to achieve atonement for the committing of an unintentional sin.-Etymology:The Hebrew noun hatta'at "sin" comes from the verb hata' "to sin." The first use is in the sentence "sin lies at your door" to Cain in Genesis 4. The noun hata'at can mean...

 which he brought.

Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...

, following the view of Rabbi Eliezer Hakappar, calls a nazirite a sinner, explaining that a person should always be moderate in his actions and not be to any extreme. Nevertheless he does point out that a nazirite can be evil or righteous depending on the circumstances.

Nahmanides
Nahmanides
Nahmanides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Naḥman Girondi, Bonastruc ça Porta and by his acronym Ramban, , was a leading medieval Jewish scholar, Catalan rabbi, philosopher, physician, kabbalist, and biblical commentator.-Name:"Nahmanides" is a Greek-influenced formation meaning "son of Naḥman"...

, in his commentary on the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...

, sides with Samuel
Samuel of Nehardea
Samuel of Nehardea or Samuel bar Abba was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an Amora of the first generation; son of Abba bar Abba and head of the Yeshiva at Nehardea. He was a teacher of halakha, judge, physician, and astronomer. He was born about 165 at Nehardea, in Babylonia...

 and Rabbi Eliezer. He explains that ideally the person should be a nazirite his whole life. Therefore ceasing to be nazirite requires a sin-offering.

Many later opinions compromise between these views and explain that a nazirite is both good and bad.

Nazirite vows in the Hebrew Bible

Two examples of Nazirites in the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...

 are Samson
Samson
Samson, Shimshon ; Shamshoun or Sampson is the third to last of the Judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Tanakh ....

 (Judges
Book of Judges
The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its title describes its contents: it contains the history of Biblical judges, divinely inspired prophets whose direct knowledge of Yahweh allows them to act as decision-makers for the Israelites, as...

 13:5), and Samuel (1 Samuel
Books of Samuel
The Books of Samuel in the Jewish bible are part of the Former Prophets, , a theological history of the Israelites affirming and explaining the Torah under the guidance of the prophets.Samuel begins by telling how the prophet Samuel is chosen by...

 1:11). In the first case, God sent an angel to make the vow known to the mother for her not yet conceived son of what he wanted the child to be like in his life(ref. Judges 13:3-5), and in the second case, the mother (Hannah) made the vow before he was even conceived because she was barren (ref. 1Samuel 1:11), which required them to live a devout life, yet in return they received extraordinary gifts: Samson possessed strength and ability in physical battle, while Samuel was a prophet
Prophet
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...

.

Samson appears to break his vows, by touching a dead body and drinking wine (he holds a משׁתה, "drinking party", in ). Goswell suggests that "we cannot understand the career and failings of Samson without attention to his Nazirite status."
  • Judges 13:6-7 (Judaica Press
    Judaica Press
    Judaica Press is an Orthodox Jewish publishing house founded in New York City in 1963 by S. Goldman, and then taken over by his son Jack Goldman in response to the growing demand for books of scholarship in the English-speaking Jewish world...

    )
6. And the woman came and said to her husband, saying, "A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of an angel of God, very awesome; and I did not ask him from where he was and his name he did not tell me.
7. And he said to me, 'Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son; and now do not drink wine and strong drink, and do not eat any unclean (thing), for a nazirite to God shall the lad be, from the womb until the day of his death.'

  • Amos 2:11-12 (Judaica Press
    Judaica Press
    Judaica Press is an Orthodox Jewish publishing house founded in New York City in 1963 by S. Goldman, and then taken over by his son Jack Goldman in response to the growing demand for books of scholarship in the English-speaking Jewish world...

    )
11. And I raised up some of your sons as prophets and some of your young men as nazirites; is this not so, O children of Israel? says the Lord.
12. And you gave the nazirites to drink wine, and you commanded the prophets saying, "Do not prophesy."

Nazirite vows in the intertestamentary period

This vow was observed into the so-called intertestamental period
Intertestamental period
The intertestamental period is a term used to refer to a period of time between the writings of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament texts. Traditionally, it is considered to be a roughly four hundred year period, spanning the ministry of Malachi The intertestamental period is a term...

 (the period between the writing of the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...

 and the writing of the Christian New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....

). 1 Maccabees
1 Maccabees
The First book of Maccabees is a book written in Hebrew by a Jewish author after the restoration of an independent Jewish kingdom, about the latter part of the 2nd century BC. The original Hebrew is lost and the most important surviving version is the Greek translation contained in the Septuagint...

 (part of the Christian Deuterocanon) 3:49 mentions men who had ended their nazirite vows, an example dated to about 166 BCE. Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...

 mentions a number of people who had taken the vow, such as his tutor Banns (Antiquities 20.6), and Gamaliel
Gamaliel
Gamaliel the Elder , or Rabban Gamaliel I , was a leading authority in the Sanhedrin in the mid 1st century CE. He was the grandson of the great Jewish teacher Hillel the Elder, and died twenty years before the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem...

 records in the Mishna how the father of Rabbi Chenena made a lifetime nazirite vow before him (Nazir 29b).

The Septuagint uses a number of terms to translate the 16 uses of Nazir in the Hebrew Bible, such as "he who vowed" (euxamenos εὐξαμένος) or "he who was made holy" (egiasmenos ἡγιασμένος) etc. It is left untranslated and transliterated in Judges 13:5 as nazir (ναζιρ).

Nazirites in the New Testament

The practice of a nazirite vow is part of the ambiguity of the Greek term "Nazarene
Nazarene (sect)
The Nazarene sect is used in two contexts:* Firstly of the New Testament early church where in Acts 24:5 Paul is accused before Felix at Caesarea by Tertullus of being "a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes."...

" that appears in the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....

; the sacrifice of a lamb and the offering of bread does suggest a relationship with Christian symbolism (then again, these are the two most frequent offerings prescribed in Leviticus
Leviticus
The Book of Leviticus is the third book of the Hebrew Bible, and the third of five books of the Torah ....

, so no definitive conclusions can be drawn). While a saying in ( and ) attributed to Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

 makes it doubtful that he, reported to be "a winebibber", was a nazirite during his ministry, the verse ends with the curious statement, "But wisdom is justified of all her children". The advocation of the ritual consumption of wine as part of the Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...

, the tevilah
Mikvah
Mikveh is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism...

in Mark 14:22-25 indicated he kept this aspect of the nazirite vow when Jesus said, "Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God
Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...

." The ritual with which Jesus commenced his ministry (recorded via Greek as "Baptism
Baptism of Jesus
The baptism of Jesus marks the beginning of Jesus Christ's public ministry. This event is recorded in the Canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. In John 1:29-33 rather than a direct narrative, the Baptist bears witness to the episode...

") and his vow in and at the end of his ministry, do respectively reflect the final and initial steps (purification by immersion in water and abstaining from wine) inherent in a Nazirite vow. These passages may indicate that Jesus intended to identify himself as a Nazirite ("not drinking the fruit of vine") before his crucifixion.

Luke the Evangelist
Luke the Evangelist
Luke the Evangelist was an Early Christian writer whom Church Fathers such as Jerome and Eusebius said was the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles...

 clearly was aware that wine was forbidden in this practice, for the angel that announces the birth of John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...

 foretells that "he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb", in other words, a nazirite from birth, the implication being that John had taken a lifelong nazirite vow.

Acts of the Apostles
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...

 is also attributed to Luke (see Luke-Acts
Luke-Acts
Luke-Acts is the name usually given by Biblical scholars to the hypothetical composite work of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament. Together they describe the Ministry of Jesus and the subsequent lives of the Apostles and the Apostolic Age.Both the books of Luke and...

) and in , Paul
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...

 cut off his hair because of a vow he had taken, we learn that the early Jewish Christians
Jewish Christians
Jewish Christians is a term which appears in historical texts contrasting Christians of Jewish origin with Gentile Christians, both in discussion of the New Testament church and the second and following centuries....

 occasionally took the temporary Nazarite vow, and it is probable that the vow of St. Paul mentioned in Acts 18:18, was of a similar nature, although the shaving of his head in Cenchræ, outside of Palestine, was not in conformity with the rules laid down in the sixth chapter of Numbers, nor with the interpretation of them by the Rabbinical schools of that period. If we are to believe the legend of Hegesippus
Hegesippus (chronicler)
Saint Hegesippus , was a Christian chronicler of the early Church who may have been a Jewish convert and certainly wrote against heresies of the Gnostics and of Marcion...

 quoted by Eusebius, St. James the Less, Bishop of Jerusalem, was a Nazarite, and performed with rigorous exactness all the practices enjoined by that rule of life. and in Paul was advised to counter the claims made by some Judaizers
Judaizers
Judaizers is predominantly a Christian term, derived from the Greek verb ioudaïzō . This term is most widely known from the single use in the New Testament where Paul publicly challenges Peter for compelling Gentile believers to "judaize", also known as the Incident at Antioch.According to the...

 (that he encouraged a revolt against the Mosaic Law
Antinomianism
Antinomianism is defined as holding that, under the gospel dispensation of grace, moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation....

). He showed the "believers there" (believers in Jesus, i.e. the Jewish Christians) in Jerusalem otherwise by purifying himself and accompanying four men to the temple who had taken nazaritic vows (so as to debunk the naysayers)

This stratagem only delayed the inevitable mob assault on him. This event brought about the accusation in that Paul was the "ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes", and thus provides further verification that the term Nazarene was a mistranslation of the term Nazirite. In any case, the relationship of Paul of Tarsus and Judaism
Paul of Tarsus and Judaism
The relationship between Paul of Tarsus and Second Temple Judaism continues to be the subject of much scholarly research, as it is thought that Paul played an important role in the relationship between Christianity and Judaism as a whole...

 is still disputed.

What is curious is that Luke does not here mention the apostle James the Just
James the Just
James , first Bishop of Jerusalem, who died in 62 AD, was an important figure in Early Christianity...

 as taking nazirite vows, although later Christian historians (e.g. Epiphanius
Epiphanius of Salamis
Epiphanius of Salamis was bishop of Salamis at the end of the 4th century. He is considered a saint and a Church Father by both the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches. He gained a reputation as a strong defender of orthodoxy...

 Panarion 29.4) believed he had, and the vow of a nazirite would explain the asceticism Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea also called Eusebius Pamphili, was a Roman historian, exegete and Christian polemicist. He became the Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine about the year 314. Together with Pamphilus, he was a scholar of the Biblical canon...

 ascribed to James (something the Jewish Nazarite Vow was never intended to do), a claim that gave James the title "James the Just".

Rastafari

The tradition of the nazirite vow has had a significant influence on the modern Rastafari Movement
Rastafari movement
The Rastafari movement or Rasta is a new religious movement that arose in the 1930s in Jamaica, which at the time was a country with a predominantly Christian culture where 98% of the people were the black descendants of slaves. Its adherents worship Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia , as God...

, and elements of the vow have been adopted as part of this religion. In describing the obligations of their religion, Rastafari make reference to the nazirite vow taken by Samson. Part of this vow, as adopted by the Rastafari, is to avoid the cutting of one's hair. This is inspired by the text of Leviticus 21:5 "They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard nor make any cuttings in their flesh." The visible sign of this vow is the Rastafarian's dreadlocks
Dreadlocks
Dreadlocks, also called locks, a ras, dreads, "rasta" or Jata , are matted coils of hair. Dreadlocks are usually intentionally formed; because of the variety of different hair textures, various methods are used to encourage the formation of locks such as backcombing...

. Some Rastafari have concluded that Samson had dreadlocks, as suggested by the description stating that he had seven locks upon his head. Others interpret Samson's "locks" to have been simple braids.

Additionally, the Rastafari are taught to abstain from alcohol in accordance with the nazirite vow. They have also adopted dietary laws derived from Leviticus, which accounts for some similarity to the prohibitions of the Jewish dietary law of Kashrut.

Local church movement

In one of his books Witness Lee
Witness Lee
Witness Lee was a Chinese Christian preacher associated with the Local Churches movement, and the founder of the Living Stream Ministry. He was born in the city of Yantai, Shandong Province, China, in 1905, to a Southern Baptist family. He became a born again Christian in 1925 after hearing the...

 designates each of the vows three requirements as metaphorical representations of certain physical separations; this is also referred to as fasting
Fasting
Fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. An absolute fast is normally defined as abstinence from all food and liquid for a defined period, usually a single day , or several days. Other fasts may be only partially restrictive,...

.
  • Abstain from the vine - "All the days of his Naziriteship shall he eat nothing that is made of the grape-vine, from the pressed grapes even to the grapestone." According to Lee, wine signifies fasting from "earthly pleasure or worldly enjoyment."
  • Refrain from cutting one's hair - "All the days of his vow of Naziriteship there shall no razor come upon his head." The New Testament
    New Testament
    The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....

     states that it is a disgrace for a man to have long hair. Therefore, according to Lee, being disgraced means separation "from self-glory.""
  • Avoid death - "All the days that he consecrateth himself unto the LORD he shall not come near to a dead body." For Lee avoiding death, even the death of a family member, signifies separation from our "natural affection"

See also

  • Monasticism
    Monasticism
    Monasticism is a religious way of life characterized by the practice of renouncing worldly pursuits to fully devote one's self to spiritual work...

  • Nazir (Talmud)
    Nazir (Talmud)
    Nazir is a treatise of the Mishnah and the Tosefta and in both Talmuds, devoted chiefly to a discussion of the laws of the Nazirite laid down in Numbers 6:1-21. In the Tosefta its title is Nezirut...

     - The tractate of the Mishnah and Talmud, devoted chiefly to a discussion of the laws of the Nazirite
  • Naso (parsha)
    Naso (parsha)
    Naso or Nasso is the 35th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the second in the book of Numbers. It constitutes Naso is the longest of the 54 weekly Torah portions, with 176 verses...

  • Nazareth Origin of name
  • Rechabites

Further reading

  • See: Chepey, S. Nazirites in Late Second Temple Judaism: A Survey of Ancient Jewish Writings, the New Testament, Archaeological Evidence, and other Writings from Late Antiquity. AJEC 60. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2005.

External links

  • Nazarite in the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia
    Jewish Encyclopedia
    The Jewish Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia originally published in New York between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. It contained over 15,000 articles in 12 volumes on the history and then-current state of Judaism and the Jews as of 1901...

  • Nazarite in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
    Catholic Encyclopedia
    The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index...

  • Nazarite in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
    Encyclopædia Britannica
    The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...

  • Full text of the Mishna nazir and Mishneh Torah nazir at Machon Mamre.
  • Book, Title- Hebrew Bible and ancient versions: selected essays of Robert P. Gordon , Chapter 6 Title - Who Made The Kingmaker? Reflect On Samule And The Institution Of The Monarchy ; Terms- Nazirite, etymology: Page 65, page 66 and etymology select pages
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