Hebrew word · H5139

נָזִיר

nezir

Nazirite

From the root n-z-r, 'separate, dedicate.' A nazir is 'one separated / consecrated.' In ritual use it means a person under the vow of Numbers 6: no wine, vinegar, grapes or anything from the vine; no razor on the head; no contact with a corpse, not even a parent's.

Appears 16 times in 16 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) consecrated or devoted one, Nazarite

1a) consecrated one

1b) devotee, Nazarite

1c) untrimmed (vine)

Also named: ne.zer (נֵ֫זֶר ": consecration" H5145)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Amos 2:11

Range of meaning

From the root n-z-r, 'separate, dedicate.' A nazir is 'one separated / consecrated.' In ritual use it means a person under the vow of Numbers 6: no wine, vinegar, grapes or anything from the vine; no razor on the head; no contact with a corpse, not even a parent's. The related noun nezer means 'consecration' and also 'crown, diadem.' Elsewhere the word means 'set apart, prince among' (Joseph, Gen 49:26; Deut 33:16), and it is even used of an unpruned, 'let-alone' vine in the sabbatical and jubilee years (Lev 25:5, 11).

Against the English

English 'Nazirite' is just a transliteration and conveys nothing by itself. KJV's spelling 'Nazarites' makes it look like a word for people from Nazareth, which it is not. YLT's 'Nazarites' does the same.

How it drifted

English has no equivalent word, so translators transliterate. The KJV-era spelling and the Gospel title 'Nazarene' (Matt 2:23) have made many readers think the two words are related.

Used elsewhere in the period

Num 6:1–21 gives the vow law, framed as a vow taken for a set period. Samson is a 'nazir of God from the womb' for life (Judg 13:5, 7; 16:17). Samuel: the Masoretic text of 1 Sam 1:11 has the no-razor vow, and the Dead Sea Scroll 4QSam^a at 1:22 explicitly calls him a nazir 'for ever.' The Hebrew of Ben Sira 46:13 is usually read as calling Samuel a 'nazir of Yahweh in prophecy,' which pairs the two roles just as Amos does. Later evidence includes 1 Macc 3:49; Josephus, Antiquities 4.72 and 19.294; Acts 18:18 and 21:23–26; and the Mishnah tractate Nazir. The Rechabites' refusal of wine (Jer 35) is a comparable but separate tradition.

From the study of Amos 2:12

Range of meaning

From the root n-z-r, 'to separate, set apart, dedicate'. A nazir is a person set apart for God by a vow. Numbers 6 lays out three marks: no wine, strong drink or grape products of any kind; no razor on the head; no contact with a dead body. The vow could be temporary (Numbers 6) or for life from birth (Samson in Judges 13:5–7; Samuel in 1 Samuel 1:11; the Hebrew Samuel scroll from Qumran, 4QSamᵃ, calls Samuel a nazir outright). The same root also gives nezer, a 'crown' or 'consecrated diadem', and in Genesis 49:26 Joseph is the nezir, the one 'set apart' among his brothers.

Against the English

'Nazirite' is a transliteration, and most readers have no idea what it means. The KJV spells it 'Nazarite', which looks like 'Nazarene' and 'Nazareth', though it has nothing to do with either (see drift).

How it drifted

Spelling. The Latin Vulgate's Nazaraei and the KJV's 'Nazarite' blur the word with 'Nazarene', the word for a person from Nazareth, which comes from a different root.

Used elsewhere in the period

Numbers 6:1–21; Judges 13:5–7, 16:17; 1 Samuel 1:11 (and 4QSamᵃ); Lamentations 4:7. In Jesus' day the vow was still widely practised: the Mishnah tractate Nazir regulates it, Josephus mentions it (Antiquities 19.294; 20.6.1 / War 2.313 on Bernice), and Acts 18:18 and 21:23–26 show Paul and others taking vows of this kind. The Greek Septuagint here translates the word as 'the consecrated ones' (hēgiasmenoi).

From the study of Judges 13:5

Range of meaning

From the root nzr, 'to separate, set apart, dedicate'. A nāzîr is a person set apart: (1) in Num 6, a man or woman who voluntarily vows to be 'separated to YHWH' for a set period. During that time they drink no wine or anything from the grape, never cut their hair, and never come near a dead body. At the end, the hair is shaved and burned on the altar. (2) In a wider sense, someone set apart from others, such as Joseph as 'the one set apart among his brothers' (Gen 49:26; Deut 33:16). The related noun nēzer means both 'consecration' and 'crown' or 'diadem' (Exod 29:6; 2 Sam 1:10), and Num 6:7 calls the Nazirite's hair 'the nēzer of his God upon his head'.

Against the English

English 'Nazirite' is only a transliteration, so it tells the reader nothing unless they already know Num 6. The KJV spelling 'Nazarite' looks like 'Nazarene' (someone from Nazareth), which is a different word with no linguistic connection.

How it drifted

The KJV spelling 'Nazarite' and Matthew 2:23's 'He shall be called a Nazarene' have led many readers to merge the two. Popular imagery has also turned the Nazirite into a permanent long-haired ascetic. In Israelite practice the normal Nazirite vow was temporary and voluntary.

Used elsewhere in the period

Num 6:1–21 (the law of the vow); Amos 2:11–12 (Nazirites alongside prophets as people God raised up, whom Israel made drink wine); 1 Sam 1:11 (Samuel: 'no razor shall go up on his head'). A Qumran manuscript of Samuel (4QSam^a) and the Hebrew of Sirach 46:13 call Samuel a nazir. The Mishnah tractate Nazir discusses a 'Samson-Nazirite' as a special lifelong category, and Josephus (Ant. 19.294; War 2.313) and Acts 21:23–26 show temporary Nazirite vows in the first century.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 49:26 נְזִ֥יר [the] prince of

    The blessings of your father have surpassed the blessings of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the everlasting hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers.

Leviticus · 2

  1. Leviticus 25:5 נְזִירֶ֖ךָ untrimmed vines your

    You are not to reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your untended vines. The land must have a year of complete rest.

  2. Leviticus 25:11 נְזִרֶֽיהָ׃ untrimmed vines its

    The fiftieth year will be a Jubilee for you; you are not to sow the land or reap its aftergrowth or harvest the untended vines.

Numbers · 6

  1. Numbers 6:2 נָזִ֔יר a Nazirite

    “Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD,

    Here: 'A vow of a nazir', the vow that makes someone a dedicated, set-apart person. This is a status a person takes on for a time, not a tribe, sect or town.

  2. Numbers 6:13 הַנָּזִ֑יר the Nazirite

    Now this is the law of the Nazirite when his time of separation is complete: He must be brought to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,

  3. Numbers 6:18 הַנָּזִ֗יר the Nazirite

    Then at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the Nazirite is to shave his consecrated head, take the hair, and put it on the fire under the peace offering.

  4. Numbers 6:19 הַנָּזִ֔יר the Nazirite

    And the priest is to take the boiled shoulder from the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and put them into the hands of the Nazirite who has just shaved the hair of his consecration.

  5. Numbers 6:20 הַנָּזִ֖יר the Nazirite

    The priest shall then wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. This is a holy portion for the priest, in addition to the breast of the wave offering and the thigh that was presented. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.

  6. Numbers 6:21 הַנָּזִיר֮ the Nazirite

    This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the LORD for his separation, in addition to whatever else he can afford; he must fulfill whatever vow he makes, according to the law of his separation.”

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 33:16 נְזִ֥יר [the] consecrated one of

    with the choice gifts of the land and everything in it, and with the favor of Him who dwelt in the burning bush. May these rest on the head of Joseph and crown the brow of the prince of his brothers.

Judges · 3

  1. Judges 13:5 נְזִ֧יר a Nazirite of

    For behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. And no razor shall touch his head, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”

    Here: 'Nazirite of', meaning someone separated and dedicated. Here it is bound to the next word, 'God': he belongs to God as one set apart for him.

  2. Judges 13:7 נְזִ֤יר a Nazirite of

    But he said to me, ‘Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. Now, therefore, do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb until the day of his death.’”

  3. Judges 16:17 נְזִ֧יר [am] a Nazirite of

    Samson told her all that was in his heart: “My hair has never been cut, because I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become as weak as any other man.”

Lamentations · 1

  1. Lamentations 4:7 נְזִירֶ֙יהָ֙ ones of high rank its

    Her dignitaries were brighter than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than rubies, their appearance like sapphires.

Amos · 2

  1. Amos 2:11 לִנְזִרִ֑ים to Nazirites

    I raised up prophets from your sons and Nazirites from your young men. Is this not true, O children of Israel?” declares the LORD.

    Here: As 'separated, consecrated ones': people set apart to God and marked by visible vows such as no wine, uncut hair, and no contact with the dead (Num 6). Their bodies were living signs that Israel belonged to God. Verse 12 shows how Israel answered that sign: by pushing wine on them.

  2. Amos 2:12 הַנְּזִרִ֖ים the Nazirites

    “But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.

    Here: 'The Nazirites' are the people God raised up from Israel's young men (v. 11). Their vow of separation was marked above all by refusing wine and anything from the grapevine (Numbers 6:3–4).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.