Nazirite
In the Hebrew Bible, a nazirite or a nazarite is an Israelite man or woman who voluntarily took a vow which is described in. This vow required the nazirite to:
- Abstain from wine and strong drink as well as all other grape products, such as vinegar
- Refrain from cutting the hair on his head
- Not to become ritually impure by contact with corpses or graves, even those of family members.
The nazirite is described as being "holy" and "holy unto God"; yet at the same time, he or she 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 the nazirite as a sinner.
Etymology
"Nazirite" comes from the Hebrew word nazir meaning "consecrated" or "separated", and may be ultimately derived from a root meaning "vow", similar to the Hebrew neder. The word nazir was also sometimes used to refer to a prince, who filled a special position of secular power, and the cognate word nezer can refer to either the state of being a nazirite, or else to a physical crown. In Modern Hebrew, the word nazir is largely used more generally to refer to any kind of monk or nun.Hebrew Bible
Laws
Besides the basic laws to be followed during the nazirite period, Numbers 6 describes in detail the sacrifices to be offered at the conclusion of the period.The nazirite would make three offerings: a lamb as a burnt offering, a ewe as a sin offering, and a ram as a peace offering; also three additional offerings to accompany the peace offering. He would also shave his head in the outer courtyard of the Temple in Jerusalem, and place the hair on the same fire as the peace offering. The text is unclear whether this refers to the fire on the altar, or a cooking fire.
If the nazirite has accidentally become impure by touching a corpse during the nazirite period, he must offer a different offering, and restart the nazirite period from the beginning.
Mentions
In addition to the nazirite laws, there are a few other mentions of nazirites in the Hebrew Bible.The prophet Amos condemned the Israelites for their failure to respect the nazirite vow:
The Rechabites were a group mentioned in the Bible who avoided wine, similar to nazirites.
The Septuagint uses a number of terms to translate the 16 uses of nazir in the Hebrew Bible, such as "he who vowed" or "he who was made holy" etc. It is left untranslated and transliterated in Judges 13:5 as nazir.
Samson and Samuel
Two prominent Biblical individuals who were nazirites, or similar to nazirites, were Samson, and Samuel. For both, their status was lifelong. Both were born of previously barren mothers, and each entered into his vows through either his mother's oath, or a divine command to his mother, rather than by their own volition. These vows required Samson and Samuel to live devout lives, yet in return they received extraordinary gifts: Samson possessed strength and ability in physical battle against the Philistines, while Samuel became a prophet.While Samson was explicitly commanded to be a nazirite, the word "nazirite" was not used regarding Samuel, rather he was "given to the Lord" and forbidden to cut his hair.
Some commentators later noted that Samson appears to break his nazirite vow several times throughout the text; his killing of both humans and animals would frequently threaten, if not outright violate, his vow of ritual purity, and describes Samson holding a feast – an event which traditionally entailed the consumption of wine. This conflict of interpretation has spawned numerous explanations: rabbinic sources claimed Samson had a unique nazirite status which permitted him to touch dead bodies, since the angel who imposed the status omitted this restriction. David Kimhi conjectures that even without this special status, Samson would be allowed to touch dead bodies while doing God's work defending Israel. Another argument analyzes the semantics of the vow itself; Numbers 6:6 forbids nazirites from coming near a nephesh-mot, and though there are cases in the Pentateuch where nephesh is used to refer to animals, the term in Numbers 6:6 is usually taken to imply the human dead, which seems to be its most focused meaning according to Numbers 6:7. In any event, the supernatural strength that Samson was given was evidently not taken away at the time of Judges 14, indicating that his nazirite vow was not considered broken. Goswell suggests that "we cannot understand the career and failings of Samson without attention to his Nazirite status."
In Rabbinic literature
Laws
has a rich tradition on the laws of the nazirite. In addition to the Biblical text of, the laws are explained in detail in the Mishna and Talmud, tractate Nazir. These laws were later codified by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah.Vows
An Israelite becomes a Nazirite through an intentional verbal declaration. This declaration can be in any language, and can be something as simple as saying "me too" as a Nazirite passes by. In general there are two types of Nazirites, those who take a vow for a set time, and permanent Nazirites. A person can specify how long he intends to be a Nazirite, but if no time period or a time period of less than 30 days is specified, the vow is considered to last 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. However, if a person says that he is a Nazirite for a thousand years, he is a regular Nazirite. The permanent Nazirite has no source in the Bible but is known through tradition.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 vow of his young daughter, and a husband has the ability to annul a vow by his wife, when he first hears about it. 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. Likewise, all of the laws related to intent and conditional vows apply also to Nazirite vows.
Sacrifices
At the end of their vow, the Nazirite brings three sacrificial offerings to the Temple in Jerusalem. The first is a ewe for a chatat, the second is a lamb for an olah, and finally a ram as a shelamim along with a basket of matzah and grain and drink offerings.After bringing the sacrificial offerings, the Nazirite shaves their head in the outer courtyard of the Temple, and the hair is burned on "the fire which is under the peace offering". The rabbis view this as simply the appropriate disposal of a sanctified object, rather than being the hair itself being a sacrifice.
Part of the Nazirite's offering is given to the Kohen; this gift is one of the twenty-four kohanic gifts.
A person can become a Nazirite whether or not the Temple in Jerusalem is standing. However, no temple means that there is currently no way to make the offerings that end the Nazirite vow, so anyone taking the vow would become a de facto permanent Nazirite.
Abstinence from grape products
A Nazirite must abstain from all beverages derived from grapes, even if they are not alcoholic. According to traditional rabbinic interpretation, the Nazirite may drink alcoholic beverages not derived from grapes. According to less traditional rabbinic interpretation, a Nazirite is forbidden to consume any alcohol, and vinegar from such alcohol, regardless of its source. The law regarding combining wine or grapes with other food is similar to kashrut, which applies to all Jews. An early rabbinic proverb warned the Nazirite: "Get yourself far around ! Don't even come near to a vineyard!"Uncut hair
A Nazirite must refrain from cutting the hair of his head. He can groom his hair with his fingers or scratch his head and need not be concerned if some hair falls out, however, he cannot use a comb since it very likely to pull out some hair. A Nazirite is not allowed to use a chemical depilatory to remove hair. However, a Nazirite who recovers from the skin disease of tzaraath is obligated to cut his hair, and a permanent Nazirite may cut his hair once a year. Nazirites who shave their hair are obligated to redo the last 30 days of the Nazirite period.Avoidance of corpses and graves
A Nazirite must avoid corpses and graves, even those of family members, and any building that contains one. A permanent Nazirite becomes ritually impure through proximity to a corpse. Nonetheless, a Nazirite who finds an unburied corpse is obligated to bury it, although he will become defiled in the process.If a Nazirite touches a corpse or carries a funeral bier, or goes into a building that contains a corpse, their vow is ended as unfulfilled. In this case, after he has waited seven days for his purification, the Nazirite should shave their head and to bring sacrificial offerings. After that, he is permitted to put himself under another Nazirite vow with a new time limit.
If the Nazirite simply enters an area where a grave or graveyard had been ploughed, or if he went into a foreign land that was declared unclean by the chazal and had touched its earth, or if he stands beneath the branches of a tree or a rock that shades the ground near a graveyard, he still contracts a level of uncleanness. However this is less than the impurity of touching corpse, and although he must be sprinkled with water containing the ashes of a red heifer on the third and seventh days, he is not required to shave his head or bring sacrificial offerings, and his Nazirite vow is not invalidated, though he adds seven days to the time he spends as a Nazirite to make up for the days of impurity.