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A Nazirite or Nazarite, (in Hebrew: נזיר, Nazir), refers to a Jew who took an ascetic vow described in . The term nazirite comes from the Hebrew word nazir meaning "consecrated" or "separated".Alternatively "crowned", see Abraham ibn Ezra's biblical commentary This vow required the man or woman to observe the following:
- Abstain from wine, wine vinegar, grapes, and raisins;
- Refrain from cutting one's hair and beard;
- To avoid corpses and graves, even those of a family member.
The Nazirite is described as being "holy unto the Lord" (), yet at the same time must bring a sin offering. This contradiction has led to divergent approaches to the Nazirite in the Talmud, and later authorities.
Laws of the Nazirite
Halakha (Jewish Law) has a rich tradition on the laws of the Nazirite. These law were first recorded in the Mishna, and Talmud in tractate Nazir. They were later codified by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah Haphlah, Nazir. From the perspective of Orthodox Judaism these laws are not a historical curiosity but can be practiced even today.
General laws
As a vow
All the laws of vows apply also to the nazirite vow. Like all other vows a father has the ability to annul the vows (nazirite or otherwise) of his young daughter and a husband has the ability to annul the vows of his wife when they first hear about it (). Mishneh Torah Haphlah, Nazir 2:16 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
A person can become a nazirite whether or not the Temple in Jerusalem is standing. However, lacking the temple there is no way to bring the offering that end the nazirite period. As such the person would de facto be a permanent nazirite.Mishneh Torah 2:20-23
Redoing the Nazirite
If a nazirite fails in fulfilling these three obligations there may be consequences. He or she may need to repeat all or part of the time he or she was a nazirite. Furthermore, he or she may be obligated to bring sacrifices. And in certain circumstances there may be a penalty of lashes.Whether a nazirite has to repeat time as a nazirite depends on what part of the nazirite vow was transgressed. If the nazirite becomes defiled by a corpse he or she is obligation to completely start the nazirite period over again. Queen Helena vowed to be a nazirite for seven years, but became defiled twice near the end of her nazirite period, forcing her to start over. She was a nazirite for a total of twenty one year.Alternately for a total of 14 years see Mishna Tractate "Nazir" 3:5 If the nazirite shaves his or her hair, he or she is obligated to redo the last thirty days of the nazirite period. However, if the nazirite drinks wine, the nazirite period continues as normal. Mishneh Torah 6:1-3;Mishna Tractate "Nazir" 6:5
Becoming a Nazirite
A JewishMishneh Torah 2:16 man or woman can only become a nazirite by an intentional verbal declaration.Mishneh Torah 1:5 This declaration can be in any language, and can be something as minor as saying "me too" as a nazirite passes in front of someone.Mishneh Torah 1:6A person can specify the duration for any period of time greater than or equal to 30 days. If a person does not specify, or specifies a time less than 30 days, the vow is for 30 days.Mishneh Torah 3:1,2 A person who says "I am a nazirite forever" or "I am a nazirite for all my life" is a permanent nazirite and has slightly different law apply to him. Likewise if a person says "I am a Nazirite like Samson" he will have the laws of a Samson-like nazirite apply to him. 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 minor child a nazirite. However the child has a right to refuse to this status while he or she is still a minor.Mishneh Torah 2:14-15
Being a Nazirite
This vow required the man or woman to observe the following:- Abstain from wine, wine vinegar, grapes, and raisins;
- Refrain from cutting one's hair and beard;
- To avoid corpses and graves, even those of a family member.
It is also forbidden for the nazirite to have grape, or grape derivatives even if they are not alcoholic. Likewise, there is no prohibition for the nazirite to drink alcoholic beverages not derived from grapes.Mishneh Torah 5:1-3 The laws of wine or grapes mixing in other food is similar to other dietary laws that apply to all Jew.Mishneh Torah 5:7
A nazirite can groom his hair with his hand or scratch his head and needn’t be concerned if some hair fall 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 that will remove hair.However no lashes are incured Mishneh Torah 5:14 A nazirite that recovers from Tzaraath, a skin disease described in , is obligated to cut his hair despite being a nazirite.
The nazirite (except for a Samson-like nazirite as stated above) cannot become ritually impure by a dead body. This includes not 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. Mishneh Torah 7:14
Ending of the Nazirite period
At the end of the nazirite period the nazirite brings three sacrifices in the Temple in Jerusalem. 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). Mishneh Torah 8:1-3 After bringing the sacrifices the nazirite shaves his or her head in the outer courtyard of the Temple.Attitudes Towards the Nazirite
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 contradiction, pointed out in the Babylonian Talmud, lead to two divergent views. Samuel and Rabbi Eliezer Hakappar focusing on the sin-offering of the Nazirite, regarded Nazirites as well as anyone who fasted or took any vow whatsoever as a sinner. A different Rabbi Eliezer argues and explains that the Nazirite is indeed holy and the sin referred to in the verse applies only to a Nazirite who became ritually defiled.Talmud Taanis 11a
Maimonides 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.Mishneh Torah Maadah, Deot 3:1-4; See also Maimonides Introduction to Pirke Avot in his commentary on the Mishna Nevertheless he does point out that a Nazirite can be evil or righteous depending of the circumstances. Mishneh Torah Haphlah, Nazir 10:21
Nahmanides in his commentary on the Torah sides with 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 comprise between these views and explain that a Nazirite is both good and bad.Talmud, Taanis 11a Tosafot "Samuel says..."
Nazirites in History
Nazirite Vows in the Hebrew Bible
Two examples of Nazarites in the Hebrew Bible are Samson (Judges 13:5), and Samuel (1 Samuel 1:11). In both cases, their mother made the vow before they were born, which required them to live an ascetic life, yet in return they received extraordinary gifts: Samson possessed strength and ability in physical battle, while Samuel was a prophet.- Judges 13:6-7 (Judaica Press)
- 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)
- 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 intertestamentary period. 1 Maccabees 3:49 mention men who had ended their Nazirite vows, an example dated to about 166 BCE. Josephus mentions a number of people who had taken the vow, such as his tutor Banns (Antiquities 20.6), and Gamaliel records in the Mishna how the father of Rabbi Chenena made a lifetime Nazirite vow before him (Nazir 29b) — examples showing this practice was observed into the first century CE.Nazirites and the New Testament
The practice of a Nazirite vow is part of the obscurity of the Greek term "Nazarene" that appears in the New 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, so no definitive conclusions can be drawn). While a saying (; ) attributed to Jesus makes it doubtful that he was a Nazirite during his ministry, as does the ritual consumption of wine as part of the Eucharist, the Tevilah with which he commenced his ministry (recorded via Greek as "Baptism") and the vow in at the end of his ministry do, respectively, reflect the final and initial steps in a Nazirite vow.
Luke clearly was aware that wine was forbidden in ascetic practice, for the angel (Luke 1:15) that announces the birth of John the Baptist 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." The implication is that John had taken a lifelong Nazirite vow (see also Luke 7:33). He also mentions how Paul was advised to avoid the hostility of the Jews in Jerusalem by taking Naziritic vows, a stratagem that only delayed the inevitable mob assault on him (Acts 21:20-24). When Paul is advised to take the Nazirite vow, although in the previous verse it is stated he is meeting with James, the author of Acts clearly ascribes the advice to the general group of elders. It is not clear whether this is because Luke confused the word nazir with netzer (meaning "branch", an allusion to Isaiah 11:1), and felt it did not apply to James, or whether Luke intentionally minimized James' importance, as other Pauline Christians did.
What is curious is that Luke never mentions James the Just as taking Nazirite vows, although later Christian historians (e.g. Epiphanius Panarion 29.4) believed he had, and this would explain the asceticism Eusebius of Caesarea describes James observed (Historia Ecclesiastica 2.23), an asceticism that gave James his title "the Just".
Nazirite vows do not appear to have been understood by the Gentiles nor are they even mentioned in patristic writings; some look to "Nazirite" rather than "of Nazareth" for the Hebrew and Aramaic epithets for Jesus.
Nazirites in the Modern State of Israel
Rabbi David Cohen (1887–1972) was a nazirite.
Nazirite and Rastafari
The Rastafarians take the Nazirite vow. The visible sign of this is their dreadlocks, which they grow based on the biblical Nazarene vow.
See also
References
External links
- Nazarite in the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia
- Nazarite in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
- Nazarite in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
- Full text of the Mishna nazir and Mishneh Torah nazir at Machon Mamre.
Jewish law and rituals | Tanakh people | Oaths
Nasiräer | Nazireeër | ナジル人 | Nazireu | Nasaré | נזיר (יהדות)
"Nazirite"