Numberschapter 6
27 verses · Moses, by tradition · 15th to 13th century BC · The Law
Key verse
‘May the LORD bless you and keep you;
It stands in The LORD bless thee and keep thee, verses 22 to 27.
The chapter
Chapter summary
The Nazarite vow and the Aaronic blessing. A man or woman who separates to the LORD. No wine or strong drink, no vinegar, no grape or raisin; no razor upon the head; no touching the dead, not even for closest kin. If a death happens suddenly near him, he begins the days over. At the vow's end, offerings: a ram, a lamb, a ewe lamb, unleavened cakes and wafers; the head shaved, the hair burned on the altar fire. Samson, Samuel, John the Baptist stand in this line. The chapter closes with the Aaronic blessing: ‘the LORD bless thee, and keep thee; the LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; the LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace’ (6:24–26). The book's signature.
Context
Law · Moses · Numbers overview
The world behind this chapter
Numbers 6The history
The law is given to Moses for the people at verse 1 and to Moses for Aaron and his sons at verse 22. The first half addresses lay Israelites of either sex and the second half the priests alone.
The rest of the history, and what it meant to them
The chapter belongs to the second year after the Exodus, about 1444 BC on the date the book gives at Numbers 1:1. The place is Sinai, and both halves happen at the entrance to the tent, where the vow is released and from where the blessing is spoken. The occasion is the ordering of a camp with God's tent in the middle of it, and Albert Barnes reads the vow as regulating an observance the Israelites already knew.
A first hearer knew that the three terms of the vow were priestly terms, since Leviticus 10:9 kept wine and strong drink from Aaron and his sons whenever they went into the tabernacle. He knew that the high priest was barred from mourning even for his own father and mother at Leviticus 21:11, and that verse 7 here puts the Nazirite at that level.
He knew what the uncut hair meant, because it was the one mark of the vow that anybody could see and its length was a public count of how long the vow had run. He knew the word behind the crown of verse 7, since the Hebrew nezer names the golden plate on the high priest's turban at Exodus 29:6 and Leviticus 8:9. He knew the blessing was a given text rather than words the priests found for themselves, and Albert Barnes records the Jewish tradition that it was spoken at the close of the daily sacrifice.
What it meant to them
The vow told ordinary Israelites that deep consecration was open to them although they had been born into the wrong tribe for it. A woman could take it on the same terms as a man.
The blessing gave the priests words to say over a whole nation, and verse 27 states what the speaking did, since it put God's own name on them.
Two rolled silver scrolls found at Ketef Hinnom outside Jerusalem carry a version of these lines from before the exile, so they were still being written and worn centuries later.
Sources cited
- Gordon J. Wenham, Numbers (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries)
- The Ketef Hinnom silver amulets, Jerusalem, excavated 1979 by Gabriel Barkay, inscriptions dated c. late seventh to early sixth century BC
- Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments , 1832 to 1869, on Numbers 6:1 and 6:22
- Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible , 1832, on Numbers 6:2, 6:5 and 6:7
Where the chapter sits
Numbers 6 falls in First census and camp order (chapters 1–10). Twelve tribes numbered; the camp arranged around the tabernacle; the order of march; the cloud lifts.
The Aaronic blessing. ‘The LORD bless thee, and keep thee’, the book's signature; still pronounced over congregations today.
After it: From Sinai to Kadesh, chapters 11–14.
The whole shape of Numbers→The structure of this chapter
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
A. No wine, no razor, no touching the dead
1. (vv. 1-2)
Numbers 6:1
“The law of the Nazarite is appropriately added to other enactments which concern the sanctity of the holy nation. That sanctity found its highest expression in the Nazarite vow, which was the voluntary adoption for a time of obligations to high and strict modes of self-dedication resembling, and indeed in some particulars exceeding, those under which the priests were placed. The present enactments do not institute a new kind of observance, but only regulate one already familiar to the Israelites Num 6:2. Num 6:2 A Nazarite - Strictly, Nazirite.”
Numbers 6:2
“When either man or woman shall separate, etc. - The word נזיר nazir, from נזר nazar, to separate, signifies merely a separated person, i. e., one peculiarly devoted to the service of God by being separated from all servile employments. From the Nazarites sprang the Rechabites, from the Rechabites the Essenes, from the Essenes the Anchorites or Hermits, and in imitation of those, the different monastic orders. Some contend strongly that the Nazarite was a type of our Lord; but neither analogy nor proof can be produced.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 6:2
“Christ was called in reproach a Nazarene, so were his followers: but he was no Nazarite according to this law; he drank wine, and touched dead bodies, yet in his this type had its accomplishment, for in him all purity and perfection met; and every true Christian is a spiritual Nazarite, separated by vow unto the Lord.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
The word Nazarite enters the King James Bible at verse 2 and stands in twelve verses in all, six of them in this chapter. Behind it is the Hebrew nazir, which Genesis 49:26 and Deuteronomy 33:16 use of Joseph, him that was separate from his brethren. The vow is opened to either man or woman, and it runs for a term the person names, which verse 5 and verse 13 both call the days of his separation.
2. (vv. 3-4)
Numbers 6:3
“No vinegar of wine, etc. - חמץ chomets signifies fermented wine, and is probably used here to signify wine of a strong body, or any highly intoxicating liquor. Dr. Lightfoot supposes that the Leper being the most defiled and loathsome of creatures, was an emblem of the wretched, miserable state of man by the fall; and that the Nazarite was the emblem of man in his state of innocence.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 6:4
“All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree,....”
The first abstention takes in the whole vine, wine, strong drink, vinegar made of either, any liquor of grapes, grapes moist or dried, and at verse 4 the kernels and the husk. Leviticus 10:9 kept wine and strong drink from Aaron and his sons whenever they went into the tabernacle, so a lay Israelite takes up for a season what a priest carried on duty. The same Hebrew root that names this man names the unpruned vine of the sabbath year at Leviticus 25:5 and 25:11, which the King James renders thy vine undressed. Numbers gives no reason for the rule, and Judges 13:14 hands the same terms to Samson's mother before he is born.
3. (v. 5)
Numbers 6:5
“There shall no razor come upon his head - The vow of the Nazarite consisted in the following particulars: - 1. He consecrated himself in a very especial and extraordinary manner to God. 2. This was to continue for a certain season, probably never less than a whole year, that he might have a full growth of hair to burn in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace-offering, Num 6:18.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Hair left uncut is the one mark of the vow that anybody can see. Hannah uses this clause word for word at 1 Samuel 1:11 when she gives Samuel to the Lord, and the angel gives it to Samson's mother at Judges 13:5. Samson keeps this rule and breaks the other two, taking honey out of the lion's carcase at Judges 14:8 and handling the jawbone at Judges 15:15, and the hair is the secret he finally tells at Judges 16:17.
4. (vv. 6-8)
Numbers 6:6
“All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord,....”
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 6:6
“Those that separate themselves to God must learn, (1.) To distinguish themselves, and do more than others. (2.) To keep their consciences pure from dead works, and not to touch the unclean thing. The greater profession of religion we make, and the more eminent we appear, the greater care we must take to avoid all sin, for we have so much the more honour to lose by it.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Numbers 6:7
“His father - Wherein he was equal to the high-priest, being, in some sort, as eminent a type of Christ, and therefore justly required to prefer the service of God, to which he had so fully given himself, before the expressions of his affections to his dearest and nearest relations. The consecration - That is, the token of his consecration, namely, his long hair.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 6:7
“The consecration of his God is upon his head - Literally, The separation of his God is upon his head; meaning his hair, which was the proof and emblem of his separation.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 6:8
“All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord. Set apart for his service, separate from all others, especially the dead, and under obligation to abstain from the above things; from drinking wine, from shaving his hair, and from defiling himself for the dead, and to be employed in holy and religious exercises during the time his vow is upon him.”
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 6:8
“This was the meaning of those external observances, and without this they were of no account. The Nazarites must be devoted to God, employed for him, and their minds intent upon him; they must keep themselves pure in heart and life, and be in every thing conformable to the divine image and will; this is to be holy, this is to be a Nazarite indeed.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
An ordinary priest could defile himself for a mother, father, son, daughter, brother or unmarried sister at Leviticus 21:1-3, and the high priest could not, at Leviticus 21:11. Verse 7 puts the Nazarite at the high priest's level and gives the reason in the high priest's own word, since the Hebrew nezer behind consecration here is the word for the golden crown on the mitre at Exodus 29:6 and Leviticus 8:9 and for the crown of the anointing oil at Leviticus 21:12. Clarke renders verse 7 literally as the separation of his God is upon his head, meaning the hair itself. The uncut hair of an ordinary Israelite stands in this law where the high priest wore gold.
B. When someone dies suddenly beside him
1. (vv. 9-11)
Numbers 6:10
“And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles or two young pigeons to the priest,....”
2 more voices on this verse
Numbers 6:10
“Two turtles, or two young pigeons - The same kind of offering made by him who had an issue, Lev 15:14, etc.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 6:10
“This teaches us that sins of infirmity, and the faults we are overtaken in by surprise, must be seriously repented of, and that an application must be made of the virtue of Christ's sacrifice to our souls for the forgiveness of them every day, 1 John ii.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Numbers 6:11
“A sin-offering - Because such a pollution was, though not his sin, yet the chastisement of his sin. He sinned - That is, contracted a ceremonial uncleanness, which is called sinning, because it was a type of sin, and a violation of a law, tho' through ignorance and inadvertency.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
A death nobody could have foreseen still defiles the vow, and the remedy runs on the seven days and the eighth that Numbers 19:11 sets later in this book for anyone who touches a corpse. He shaves, brings two turtles or two young pigeons, and verse 11 has the priest make atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead. John Wesley reads that word as the ceremonial pollution rather than a fault of the man's own doing. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take the sin offering as the mark that even a kept vow needs blood at the end of it.
2. (v. 12)
Numbers 6:12
“The days of his separation - As many days as he had before vowed to God. Lost - Hebrew. fall, to the ground, that is, be void or of none effect.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
The days already served are struck off and the whole term starts again, opened with a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering. Wesley notes that the Hebrew behind lost is fall, as a thing falls to the ground and comes to nothing. Matthew Henry reads the rule as the reason a Nazarite kept so far from the dead, since defilement was the one thing that could cost him his time.
C. The day his separation is fulfilled
1. (vv. 13-15)
Numbers 6:13
“And this is the law of the Nazarite,....”
Numbers 6:14
“A sin-offering - Whereby he confessed his miscarriages, notwithstanding the strictness of his vow and all the diligence which he could use, and consequently acknowledged his need of the grace of God in Christ Jesus the true Nazarite. For peace- offerings - For thankfulness to God, who had given him grace to make and in some measure to keep such a vow.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 6:14
“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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Numbers 6:15
“And a basket of unleavened bread,.... As at the consecration of Aaron and his sons, Exo 29:2; though for peace offerings for thanksgiving leavened bread was offered, Lev 7:13, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil; ten of each sort, as Jarchi says, ten cakes and ten wafers, see Exo 29:9, and their meat offering and their drink offering; which always used to attend every sacrifice.”
The vow closes where it was made, at the door of the tabernacle, and it closes with sacrifice. Three animals are named without blemish, a he lamb for a burnt offering, an ewe lamb for a sin offering and a ram for peace offerings, with a basket of unleavened cakes and wafers, a meat offering and a drink offering. Gill points out that the basket of unleavened bread matches the consecration of Aaron and his sons at Exodus 29:2, so the man ending this vow brings what a priest brought at his ordination.
2. (vv. 16-18)
Numbers 6:16
“And the priest shall bring them before the Lord,.... All the above offerings to the altar of burnt offering, and there present them to the Lord in the name of the Nazarite: and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering: here they stand in the proper order in which they were offered.”
Numbers 6:17
“And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord,.... After he had offered the other two: with the basket of unleavened bread; which went along with that: the priest shall also offer his meat offering, and his drink offering: of which he had his part, and were the usual appendages of other sacrifices; see Num 28:1.”
Numbers 6:18
“Shall take the hair - and put it in the fire - The hair was permitted to grow for this purpose; and as the Nazarite was a kind of sacrifice, offered to God through the whole term of his nazarate or separation, and no human flesh or blood could be offered on the altar of the Lord, he offered his hair at the conclusion of his separation, as a sacrifice - that hair which was the token of his complete subjection to the Lord, and which was now considered as the Lord’s property.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Numbers 6:18
“For what does it mean that the Nazarites let their hair grow long, saving that by a life of special continency proud thoughts gain ground? And what does it signify, that, the act of devotion over, the Nazarite is commanded to shave his head, and cast the hair into the sacrificial fire, but that we then reach the height of perfection, when we so overcome our external evil habits, as to discard from the mind even thoughts that are superfluous?”
Pacian of Barcelona· written before 391· Morals on the Book of Job, Book 2, Section 84patristic
Numbers 6:18
“At the door - Publickly, that it might be known that his vow was ended, and therefore he was at liberty as to those things from which he had restrained himself for a season, otherwise some might have been scandalized at his use of his liberty. The fire - Upon which the flesh of the peace-offerings was boiled.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Gill notes that the offerings stand here in the order they were made, sin offering first, then burnt offering, then the ram of peace offerings with the basket. The head is shaved at the door in public, and the hair goes into the fire under the peace offering, so the token of the vow burns with the sacrifice. Clarke reads the hair as the man's own offering, since no human flesh could go on the altar and the hair was already reckoned the Lord's property. Paul shaved his head at Cenchrea for a vow at Acts 18:18, and Acts 21:23-26 has him in the temple paying the charges of four men who had one on them.
3. (vv. 19-21)
Numbers 6:19
“The shoulder - The left-shoulder, as it appears from ver. 20, where this is joined with the heave-shoulder, which was the right- shoulder, and which was the priests due in all sacrifices, Lev. vii, 32, and in this also. But here the other shoulder was added to it, as a special token of thankfulness from the Nazarites for God's singular favours vouchsafed unto them.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Numbers 6:20
“And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord,....”
Numbers 6:21
“This is the law of the Nazarite - We learn from Maimonides, in his Treatise of the Nazarite, that a man might become a Nazarite in behalf of another; that is, might assist him in bearing the expenses of the sacrifices, etc. “A son may fulfill the vow his deceased father hath made, but did not live to accomplish: - He that saith, upon me be the shaving of a Nazarite, he is bound to bring the offerings of shaving for cleanness, and may offer them by the hand of what Nazarite he will.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The boiled shoulder with a cake and a wafer is put into the Nazarite's hands and waved, and Wesley takes this as the left shoulder added to the priest's usual right shoulder, a particular thank offering from Nazarites. The release is one clause at the end of verse 20, and after that the Nazarite may drink wine. Verse 21 holds a man to whatever he vowed above the fixed offerings, beside that that his hand shall get. Amos 2:11-12 has God saying that he raised up Nazarites of their young men and that Israel gave the Nazarites wine to drink.
D. The LORD bless thee and keep thee
1. (vv. 22-23)
Numbers 6:22
“And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... At the same time perhaps that the above law was given concerning the Nazarites; though why this should follow upon that, and what connection there is between the one and the other, it is not easy to say; the Nazarites were holy persons, and so were the priests; and therefore, according to Aben Ezra and others, the law of the one is joined to the law of the other: saying; as follows.”
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 6:22
“The priestly blessing (compare Ecclus. 36:17) is appointed as a solemn form to be used by the priests exclusively, and in this function their office as it were culminates (compare Lev 9:22 note). God Himself provides a formula, through which from time to time, as His people by obedience place themselves in true and right relationship to Him, the authorised mediators may pronounce and communicate His special blessing to them. It was a Jewish tradition that this blessing was given at the close of the daily sacrifice. The structure of the blessing is remarkable.”
Numbers 6:23
“IT seemed to me that as this was the last of the Thursday evenings of the dying year and I should no more meet some of you who only come here on Thursday evenings during this year, it would be well for us to close the year as our Master closed His life on earth, with a benediction—and, oh, it will be a rich enjoyment in the year to come if, by God's Grace, we shall be able to grasp and make our very own the precious things which are here presented to the whole redeemed family of the living God! I shall begin, therefore, first of all with— I. THE AARONIC BLESSING. This was pronounced at the close of the public tabernacle service when the people were about to separate, the one from the others. It is said by the Rabbis to have been only spoken at the morning sacrifice, but not in the evening because, say some, the old faith of the few gave them the early blessing. But it remained for Christ to come in the eventide of the world, at the end of time, to give us the evening blessing, the blessing of the great, eternal, evening Sacrifice. It is worthy of notice that the word, Jehovah, which is put in capital letters in our English version, occurs three times—three blessings—and each time the word has a different accent in the original Hebrew. And the Rabbis, although they did not know the meaning of it, or pretended not to know, yet all agree that there is some significant mystery therein. The word would not be accented thus differently unless there were some different shade of meaning intended. I believe we have here the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. "The Lord bless you and keep you." Is that the blessing of the Father? "The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you." Is that the blessing of the Son? "The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace." Is that the blessing of the great forgiving Holy Spirit? I think it is very likely.”
Charles Spurgeon· written before 1892· The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3371: “Two Choice Benedictions” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
3 more voices on this verse
Numbers 6:23
“Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons,....”
Numbers 6:23
“The learned bishop Pearson observes it as a tradition of the Jews that the priests blessed the people only at the close of the morning sacrifice, not of the evening sacrifice, to show (says he) that in the last days, the days of the Messiah, which are (as it were) the evening of the world, the benediction of the law should cease, and the blessing of Christ should take place.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Numbers 6:23
“On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel - The prayer which God makes for his followers, and puts into their mouth, we are sure must be right; and to it, when sincerely, faithfully, and fervently offered, we may confidently expect an answer. If he condescended to give us a form of blessings or a form of prayer, we may rest assured that he will accept what he himself has made.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
God supplies the words, so the priests bless Israel with a given text rather than with whatever they might find to say. Barnes notes that the blessing belongs to Aaron and his sons alone and that Jewish tradition placed it at the close of the daily sacrifice. Two small silver scrolls found by Gabriel Barkay in 1979 in a burial cave at Ketef Hinnom outside Jerusalem carry wording close to these lines and are commonly dated to the late seventh century before Christ, which makes them the oldest known objects bearing words of Scripture.
2. (v. 24)
Numbers 6:24
“The Lord bless thee - There are three forms of blessing here, any or all of which the priests might use on any occasion. The following is a verbal translation: - 1. May Jehovah bless thee and preserve thee! 2. May Jehovah cause his faces to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee! 3. May Jehovah lift up his faces upon thee, and may be put prosperity unto thee! This is a very comprehensive and excellent prayer, and may be paraphrased thus: - 1. May God speak good unto thee, by giving thee his excellent promises!”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 6:24
“That the favour of God is all in all in this blessing, for that is the fountain of all good. (1.) The Lord bless thee! Our blessing God is only our speaking well of him; his blessing us is doing well for us; those whom he blesses are blessed indeed.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
The three lines lengthen in the Hebrew, three words, then five, then seven, and the name of the Lord stands in every one of them. This first line asks two things, blessing and keeping, the gift and the guard of it. Clarke sets the lines out as three separate blessings, any or all of which a priest might use. Spurgeon, preaching on the passage in Two Choice Benedictions, took the three occurrences of the name as Father, Son and Spirit and said he thought it very likely, while the reading carried in Jewish tradition is of one God named three times.
3. (vv. 25-26)
Numbers 6:25
“The Lord make his face to shine upon thee,....”
Numbers 6:26
“Lift up his countenance - That is, look upon thee with a chearful and pleasant countenance, as one that is well pleased with thee and thy services. Peace - Peace with God, with thy own conscience, and with all men; all prosperity is comprehended under this word.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
A shining face and a lifted countenance are what a man's face does when he turns toward somebody he is pleased with. The Psalms pray these lines back, cause his face to shine upon us at Psalm 67:1, cause thy face to shine at Psalm 80:3, and lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us at Psalm 4:6. The last word of the last line is peace, and Wesley takes the shalom here as peace with God, with a man's own conscience and with other men, with all prosperity under it.
4. (v. 27)
Numbers 6:27
“Put my name - Shall call them by my name, shall recommend them to me as my own people, and bless them and pray unto me for them as such; which is a powerful argument to prevail with God for them.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
The verse most readers stop before is the one that says what the blessing was for. Speaking the three lines puts the name of the Lord on Israel, and the blessing itself is God's own act, I will bless them. Wesley reads putting the name as calling them by it and owning them as his people before God. Revelation 22:4 closes the canon with the same picture, his servants with his name in their foreheads.
This page carries no textual note on Numbers 6. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
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Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3371: Two Choice Benedictions; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.