6 `All days of his keeping separate to Jehovah, near a dead person he doth not go;
`And a cutting for the soul ye do not put in your flesh; and a writing, a cross-mark, ye do not put on you; I `am' Jehovah.
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Speak unto the priests, sons of Aaron, and thou hast said unto them, For `any' person `a priest' is not defiled among his people, except for his relation who `is' near unto him -- for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother. and for his sister, the virgin, who is near unto him, who hath not been to a man; for her he is defiled.
`He who is coming against the dead body of any man -- is unclean seven days; he doth cleanse himself for it on the third day, and on the seventh day he is clean; and if he cleanse not himself on the third day, then on the seventh day he is not clean. Any one who is coming against the dead, against the body of man who dieth, and cleanseth not himself -- the tabernacle of Jehovah he hath defiled, and that person hath been cut off from Israel, for water of separation is not sprinkled upon him; he is unclean; his uncleanness `is' still upon him. `This `is' the law, when a man dieth in a tent: every one who is coming in unto the tent, and all that `is' in the tent, is unclean seven days; and every open vessel which hath no covering of thread upon it is unclean. `And every one who cometh, on the face of the field, against the pierced of a sword, or against the dead, or against a bone of man, or against a grave, is unclean seven days; and they have taken for the unclean person of the ashes of the burning of the `cleansing', and he hath put upon it running water unto a vessel; and a clean person hath taken hyssop, and hath dipped `it' in water, and hath sprinkled on the tent, and on all the vessels, and on the persons who have been there, and on him who is coming against a bone, or against one pierced, or against the dead, or against a grave. `And the clean hath sprinkled `it' on the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day, and hath cleansed him on the seventh day, and he hath washed his garments, and hath bathed with water, and hath been clean in the evening. `And the man who is unclean, and doth not cleanse himself, even that person hath been cut off from the midst of the assembly; for the sanctuary of Jehovah he hath defiled; water of separation is not sprinkled upon him; he `is' unclean. `And it hath been to them for a statute age-during, that he who is sprinkling the water of separation doth wash his garments, and he who is coming against the water of separation is unclean till the evening, and all against which the unclean person cometh is unclean, and the person who is coming against `it' is unclean till the evening.'
For thus said Jehovah: Do not enter the house of a mourning-feast, Nor go to lament nor bemoan for them, For I have removed My peace from this people, An affirmation of Jehovah, The kindness and the mercies. And died have great and small in this land, They are not buried, and none lament for them, Nor doth any cut himself, nor become bald for them.
`Son of man, lo, I am taking from thee the desire of thine eyes by a stroke, and thou dost not mourn, nor weep, nor let thy tear come. Cease to groan, `for' the dead thou dost make no mourning, thy bonnet bind on thee, and thy shoes thou dost put on thy feet, and thou dost not cover over the upper lip, and bread of men thou dost not eat.' And I speak unto the people in the morning, and my wife dieth in the evening, and I do in the morning as I have been commanded.
And another of his disciples said to him, `Sir, permit me first to depart and to bury my father;' and Jesus said to him, `Follow me, and suffer the dead to bury their own dead.'
And he said unto another, `Be following me;' and he said, `Sir, permit me, having gone away, first to bury my father;' and Jesus said to him, `Suffer the dead to bury their own dead, and thou, having gone away, publish the reign of God.'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Numbers 6
Commentary on Numbers 6 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 6
Nu 6:1-22. The Law of the Nazarite in His Separation.
2-8. When either man or woman … shall vow a vow of a Nazarite—that is, "a separated one," from a Hebrew word, "to separate." It was used to designate a class of persons who, under the impulse of extraordinary piety and with a view to higher degrees of religious improvement, voluntarily renounced the occupations and pleasures of the world to dedicate themselves unreservedly to the divine service. The vow might be taken by either sex, provided they had the disposal of themselves (Nu 30:4), and for a limited period—usually a month or a lifetime (Jud 13:5; 16:17). We do not know, perhaps, the whole extent of abstinence they practised. But they separated themselves from three things in particular—namely, from wine, and all the varieties of vinous produce; from the application of a razor to their head, allowing their hair to grow; and from pollution by a dead body. The reasons of the self-restrictions are obvious. The use of wine tended to inflame the passions, intoxicate the brain, and create a taste for luxurious indulgence. The cutting off the hair being a recognized sign of uncleanness (Le 14:8, 9), its unpolled luxuriance was a symbol of the purity he professed. Besides, its extraordinary length kept him in constant remembrance of his vow, as well as stimulated others to imitate his pious example. Moreover, contact with a dead body, disqualifying for the divine service, the Nazarite carefully avoided such a cause of unfitness, and, like the high priest, did not assist at the funeral rites of his nearest relatives, preferring his duty to God to the indulgence of his strongest natural affections.
9-12. If any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration—Cases of sudden death might occur to make him contract pollution; and in such circumstances he was required, after shaving his head, to make the prescribed offerings necessary for the removal of ceremonial defilement (Le 15:13; Nu 19:11). But by the terms of this law an accidental defilement vitiated the whole of his previous observances, and he was required to begin the period of his Nazaritism afresh. But even this full completion did not supersede the necessity of a sin offering at the close. Sin mingles with our best and holiest performances, and the blood of sprinkling is necessary to procure acceptance to us and our services.
13-20. when the days of his separation are fulfilled, &c.—On the accomplishment of a limited vow of Nazaritism, Nazarites might cut their hair wherever they happened to be (Ac 18:18); but the hair was to be carefully kept and brought to the door of the sanctuary. Then after the presentation of sin offerings and burnt offerings, it was put under the vessel in which the peace offerings were boiled; and the priest, taking the shoulder (Le 7:32), when boiled, and a cake and wafer of the meat offering, put them on the hands of the Nazarites to wave before the Lord, as a token of thanksgiving, and thus released them from their vow.
Nu 6:23-27. The Form of Blessing the People.
23-27. Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the congregation of Israel, &c.—This passage records the solemn benediction which God appointed for dismissing the people at the close of the daily service. The repetition of the name "Lord" or "Jehovah" three times, expresses the great mystery of the Godhead—three persons, and yet one God. The expressions in the separate clauses correspond to the respective offices of the Father, to "bless and keep us"; of the Son, to be "gracious to us"; and of the Holy Ghost, to "give us peace." And because the benediction, though pronounced by the lips of a fellow man, derived its virtue, not from the priest but from God, the encouraging assurance was added, "I the Lord will bless them."