translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: NUM

label: NET translator note

text: The formula is used here again: “a man or a woman – when he takes.” The vow is open to both men and women.


text: The vow is considered special in view of the use of the verb יַפְלִא ( yafli ’), the Hiphil imperfect of the verb “to be wonderful, extraordinary.”


text: The construction uses the infinitive construct followed by the cognate accusative: “to vow a vow.” This intensifies the idea that the vow is being taken carefully.


text: The name of the vow is taken from the verb that follows; נָזַר ( nazar ) means “to consecrate oneself,” and so the Nazirite is a consecrated one. These are folks who would make a decision to take an oath for a time or for a lifetime to be committed to the Lord and show signs of separation from the world. Samuel was to be a Nazirite, as the fragment of the text from Qumran confirms – “he will be a נָזִיר ( nazir ) forever” ( 1 Sam 1:22 ).


text: The form of the verb is an Hiphil infinitive construct, forming the wordplay and explanation for the name Nazirite. The Hiphil is here an internal causative, having the meaning of “consecrate oneself” or just “consecrate to the Lord .”


text: The operative verb now will be the Hiphil of נָזַר ( nazar ); the consecration to the Lord meant separation from certain things in the world. The first will be wine and strong drink – barley beer (from Akkadian sikaru , a fermented beer). But the second word may be somewhat wider in its application than beer. The Nazirite, then, was to avoid all intoxicants as a sign of his commitment to the Lord . The restriction may have proved a hardship in the daily diet of the one taking the vow, but it spoke a protest to the corrupt religious and social world that used alcohol to excess.


text: The “vinegar” ( חֹמֶץ , homets ) is some kind of drink preparation that has been allowed to go sour.


text: This word occurs only here. It may come from the word “to water, to be moist,” and so refer to juice.


text: Heb “dried” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).


text: This word also is rare, occurring only here.


label: NET textual note

text: The parallel expression in v. 8 (“all the days of his separation”) lacks the word “vow.” This word is also absent in v. 5 in a few medieval Hebrew manuscripts. The presence of the word in v. 5 may be due to dittography.


text: Heb “days.”


text: The word “holy” here has the sense of distinct, different, set apart.


text: The Piel infinitive absolute functions as a verb in this passage; the Piel carries the sense of “grow lengthy” or “let grow long.”


text: The Hebrew verb is simply “enter, go,” no doubt with the sense of go near.


text: The Hebrew has נֶפֶשׁ מֵת ( nefesh met ), literally a “dead person.” But since the word נֶפֶשׁ can also be used for animals, the restriction would be for any kind of corpse. Death was very much a part of the fallen world, and so for one so committed to the Lord , avoiding all such contamination would be a witness to the greatest separation, even in a family.


text: The vav ( ו ) conjunction at the beginning of the clause specifies the cases of corpses that are to be avoided, no matter how painful it might be.


text: The construction uses the infinitive construct with the preposition and the suffixed subjective genitive – “in the dying of them” – to form the adverbial clause of time. sn The Nazirite would defile himself, i.e., ruin his vow, by contacting their corpses. Jesus’ hard saying in Matt 8:22 , “let the dead bury their own dead,” makes sense in the light of this passage – Jesus was calling for commitment to himself.


text: The word “separation” here is metonymy of adjunct – what is on his head is long hair that goes with the vow.


text: The genitive could perhaps be interpreted as possession, i.e., “the vow of his God,” but it seems more likely that an objective genitive would be more to the point.


text: The construction uses the imperfect tense followed by the infinitive absolute, יָמוּת מֵת ( yamut met ). Because the verb is in a conditional clause, the emphasis that is to be given through the infinitive must stress the contingency. The point is “if someone dies – unexpectedly.” The next words underscore the suddenness of this.


text: The verb is the Piel perfect with a vav ( ו ) consecutive; it continues the idea within the conditional clause.


text: The imperfect tense in this verse is still instructional rather than a simple future. The translations can vary, but the point that it is directive must be caught.


text: The traditional translation of חַטָּאת ( khatta ’ t ) is “sin offering,” but it is more precise to render it “purification offering” (as with the other names of sacrifices) to show the outcome, not the cause of the offering (see ). Besides, this offering was made for ritual defilements (for which no confession was required) as well as certain sins (for which a confession of sin was required). This offering restored the person to the ritual state of purity by purifying the area into which he would be going.


text: The repetition of “the one…and the one” forms the distributive sense of “the one…and the other.”


text: The burnt offering () reflects the essence of atonement: By this sacrifice the worshiper was completely surrendering to God, and God was completely accepting the worshiper.


text: The verb וְכִפֶּר ( vÿkhipper ) is the Piel perfect with vav ( ו ) consecutive. The meaning of the verb is “to expiate, pacify, atone.” It refers to the complete removal of the barrier of fellowship between the person and God, and the total acceptance of that person into his presence. The idea of “to cover,” often linked to this meaning, is derived from a homonym, and not from this word and its usage.


text: The verb “to sin” has a wide range of meanings, beginning with the idea of “missing the way or the goal.” In view of the nature of this case – the prescribed ritual without confession – the idea is more that he failed to keep the vow’s stipulations in this strange circumstance than that he committed intentional sin.


text: The verb simply means “to consecrate,” but because it refers to a vow that was interrupted, it must here mean to “reconsecrate.”


text: The same idea is to be found now in the use of the word נָזַר ( nazar ), which refers to a recommitment after the vow was interrupted.


text: The necessity of bringing the reparation offering was due to the reinstatement into the vow that had been interrupted.


text: Heb “will fall”; KJV “shall be lost”; ASV, NASB, NRSV “shall be void.”


text: The similar expression in v. 9 includes the word “head” (i.e., “his consecrated head”). The LXX includes this word in v. 12 as well.


text: The Hebrew text has “he/one shall bring him”; since there is no expressed subject, this verb should be taken in the passive sense – “he shall be brought.” Since the context suggests an obligatory nuance, the translation “he must be brought” has been used. Some scholars solve the problem by emending the Hebrew text here, but there is no manuscript evidence to support the emendation.


text: Heb “he shall offer his offering” – the object is a cognate accusative.


text: The suffixes in the MT are plural in this verse, whereas in v. 17 they are singular. This seems to be a matter of stylistic choice, referring to whomever may be taking the vow.


text: “all these” is supplied as the object.


text: Heb “make.”


text: The “peace offering” is usually written as “a sacrifice of peace” ( זֶבַח שְׁלָמִים , zevakh shÿlamim ). The word “sacrifice” is related to the word “to slaughter,” and so indicates that this is a bloody offering in celebration of peace with God.


text: Some versions simply interpret this to say that he shaves his hair, for it is the hair that is the sign of the consecration to God. But the text says he shaves his consecrated head. The whole person is obviously consecrated to God – not just the head. But the symbolic act of cutting the hair shows that the vow has been completed (see Acts 21:23-24 ). The understanding of the importance of the hair in the ancient world has been the subject of considerable study over the years (see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel , 436; and J. A. Thompson, “Numbers,” New Bible Commentary: Revised , 177).


text: Heb “which is under the peace offering.” The verse does not mean that the hair had to be put under that sacrifice and directly on the fire.


text: The line does not include the word “head”; it literally has “after the consecrating of himself his consecrated [head].” The infinitive construct is here functioning in the temporal clause with the suffix as the subject and the object following.


text: The imperfect tense here would then have the nuance of permission. It is not an instruction at this point; rather, the prohibition has been lifted and the person is free to drink wine.


text: Actually, “law” here means a whole set of laws, the basic rulings on this topic.


text: Heb “whatever else his hand is able to provide.” The imperfect tense has the nuance of potential imperfect – “whatever he can provide.”


text: Heb “according to the vow that he vows, so he must do.”


text: Or “thus.”


text: The Piel imperfect has the nuance of instruction. The particle “thus” explains that the following oracle is the form to use.


text: Here is the only use of the verb אָמַר (’ amar ) as an infinitive absolute; it functions as a verb form, an imperative or an imperfect of instruction. Several commentators have attempted to emend the text to get around the difficulty, but such emendations are unnecessary.


text: The short blessing uses the jussive throughout, here the Piel jussive with a pronominal suffix. While the jussive has quite a range of nuances, including wish, desire, prayer, or greeting, the jussives here are stronger. The formal subject of the verb is the Lord , and the speaker pronouncing the blessing is the priest, notably after emerging from the holy of holies where atonement has been made. The Lord says in this passage that when the priest says this, then the Lord will bless them. The jussive then is an oracle, not a wish or a prayer. It is a declaration of what the Lord imparts. It is as binding and sure as a patriarchal blessing which once said officially could not be taken back. The priest here is then pronouncing the word of the Lord , declaring to the congregation the outcome of the atonement.


text: The verb “to keep” concerns the divine protection of the people; its basic meaning is “to exercise great care over,” “to guard,” or “to give attention to” (see TWOT 2:939). No doubt the priestly blessing informed the prayer and promise that makes up , for the verb occurs six times in the eight verses. So in addition to the divine provision (“bless” basically means “enrich” in a number of ways) there is the assurance of divine protection.


text: Whereas the first line of the blessing had three Hebrew words, the second has five, and the third has seven. In this second line and the following third, the blessing takes the form of an emblem followed by the truth. For the Lord to make his face shine on them would mean to be gracious to them. M. Noth rightly calls this image of the shining face “a figure of speech for benevolence and favour” ( Numbers [OTL], 59); see, for example, Pss 4:7; 31:17; 44:4; 67:2; 80:4, 8, 20; 119:135 ; Dan 9:17 ). The image may have its inspiration in the theophanies. The picture is of divine favor – the beaming face of a parent for his beloved.


text: The last line of the blessing also has first the image and then the parallel interpretation – for God to lift up his face is for God to give peace. The idea of the fallen face is one of anger (see Gen 4:6,7 ); and the idea of the hidden face is that of withholding support, favor, or peace (see Deut 31:18 ; Ps 30:8 ; Ps 44:25 ). If God lifts his face toward his people, it means he has given them peace – peace, prosperity, completeness, health, safety, general well-being, and the like.


text: The idea of their putting the name of Yahweh on the people is somewhat problematic. The pronouncing of the name of Yahweh in this context over the people was taken to be the effectual means of blessings. “Putting the name on them” is an expression that emphasizes the truth that he is their God and they are his people or that having his name is having his blessing.