Números 6

VBL · Chapter 6/36

1El Señor le dijo a Moisés:

2“Dile a los israelitas: Si un hombre o una mujer hace una promesa especial de convertirse en nazareo, para dedicarse al Señor,

3no deben beber vino u otra bebida alcohólica. No deben ni siquiera beber vinagre de vino o cualquier otra bebida alcohólica, o cualquier jugo de uva o comer uvas o pasas.

4Durante todo el tiempo que estén dedicados al Señor no deben comer nada Sque sea fruto de una vid, ni siquiera las semillas o las cáscaras de uva.

5“No deben usar una navaja de afeitar sobre sus cabezas durante todo el tiempo de esta promesa de dedicación. Deben permanecer santos hasta que su tiempo de dedicación al Señor haya terminado. Deben dejar crecer su cabello.

6“Durante este tiempo de dedicación al Señor no deben acercarse a un cadáver.

7Incluso si es su padre, madre, hermano o hermana los que han muerto, no deben ensuciarse, porque su pelo sin cortar anuncia su dedicación a Dios.

8Durante todo el tiempo de su dedicación deben ser santos para el Señor.

9“Sin embargo, si alguien muere repentinamente cerca de ellos, convirtiéndolos en inmundos, deben esperar siete días, y al séptimo día cuando se limpien de nuevo deben afeitarse la cabeza.

10El octavo día llevarán dos tórtolas o dos pichones al sacerdote que está a la entrada del Tabernáculo de Reunión.

11El sacerdote ofrecerá una como ofrenda por el pecado y la otra como holocausto para corregirlas, porque se hicieron culpables por estar cerca del cadáver. Ese día deben volver a dedicarse y dejar que les vuelva a crecer el cabello.

12Deben volver a dedicarse al Señor por el tiempo completo que prometieron originalmente y traer un cordero macho de un año como ofrenda por la culpa. Los días anteriores no cuentan para el tiempo de dedicación porque se volvieron inmundos.

13“Estas son las reglas que se deben observar cuando el tiempo de dedicación del nazareo termine. Deben ser llevadas a la entrada del Tabernáculo de Reunión.

14Allí deben presentar una ofrenda al Señor de un cordero macho sin defectos de un año como holocausto, un cordero hembra sin defectos de un año como ofrenda por el pecado y un carnero sin defectos como ofrenda de paz.

15Además deben traer una cesta de pan sin levadura hecha de la mejor harina mezclada con aceite de oliva y obleas sin levadura recubiertas con aceite de oliva así como sus ofrendas de granos y bebidas.

16El sacerdote presentará todo esto ante el Señor, así como el sacrificio de la ofrenda por el pecado y el holocausto.

17También sacrificará un carnero como ofrenda de paz al Señor, junto con la cesta de pan sin levadura. Además el sacerdote presentará la ofrenda de grano y la ofrenda de bebida.

18“Luego los nazareos se afeitarán la cabeza a la entrada del Tabernáculo de Reunión. Se quitarán el cabello de sus cabezas que fueron dedicadas, y lo pondrán en el fuego bajo la ofrenda de paz.

19Una vez que los nazareos se hayan afeitado, el sacerdote tomará la espaldilla hervida del carnero, un pan sin levadura de la cesta, y una oblea sin levadura, y los pondrá en sus manos.

20El sacerdote los agitará como ofrenda mecida ante el Señor. Estos artículos son sagrados y pertenecen al sacerdote, así como el pecho de la ofrenda mecida y el muslo que fue ofrecido. Una vez que esto termine, los nazareos podrán beber vino.

21Estas son las reglas que deben observarse cuando un nazareo promete dar ofrendas al Señor en relación con su dedicación. También pueden traer ofrendas adicionales si tienen los medios para hacerlo. Cada nazareo debe cumplir las promesas que ha hecho cuando se dedica”.

22El Señor le dijo a Moisés:

23“Dile a Aarón y a sus hijos: Así es como debes bendecir a los israelitas. Esto es lo que deben decir:

24“‘Que el Señor te bendiga y te cuide.

25Que el Señor te sonría y sea misericordioso contigo.

26Que el Señor te cuide y te dé la paz’.

27Cuando los sacerdotes bendigan a los israelitas en mi nombre, yo los bendeciré”.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God institutes the Nazirite vow, by which men or women temporarily consecrated themselves to him, avoiding wine, haircuts, and contact with corpses. The chapter ends with the classic priestly blessing that Aaron was to pronounce over the people.

Explanation

The Nazirite vow was a voluntary, temporary vow of extraordinary dedication to God, open to any ordinary person (not only priests), showing that the pursuit of deeper consecration was not exclusive to a religious elite. The three signs — no wine, no haircuts, no contact with the dead — represented total separation from the distractions and impurities of everyday life for a set period. The priestly blessing that closes the chapter ('The Lord bless thee, and keep thee...') is one of the most repeated and beloved passages in the whole Bible, still used in Jewish and Christian worship today. The application for today: seasons of special consecration and intense seeking of God remain a valid and powerful spiritual practice.

Fun facts

  • Samson (Judges 13) and probably Samuel were Nazirites from birth, a lifelong vow made by their parents, unlike the temporary, voluntary vow described here in Numbers.
  • The priestly blessing (vv. 24-26) was found engraved on two small silver scrolls in Jerusalem, dated to around 600 BC — the oldest biblical text ever discovered archaeologically, confirming the extremely ancient use of these exact words.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Números 6:1The Lord speaks to Moses again, now to introduce the law of the Nazirite vow, a special and temporary commitment of dedication to God.
  2. Números 6:2Both men and women could make this vow of special separation to the Lord, called the Nazirite vow.
  3. Números 6:3Whoever took the Nazirite vow, man or woman, committed to drink no wine and nothing made from grapes, neither fresh nor dried, for the length of the vow. It was a way of setting oneself apart temporarily for special dedication to God, giving up something ordinary from everyday life as a sign of that commitment.
  4. Números 6:4For as long as the vow lasted, the Nazirite could consume absolutely nothing connected to grapes: not seeds, not skin, nothing that came from the vine.
  5. Números 6:5He also could not cut his hair for the whole time of the vow; letting the hair grow freely was, in practice, the visible sign that the person was set apart for God.
  6. Números 6:6For as long as the vow lasted, the Nazirite could not go near a dead body, not even that of a close relative, because that would break the state of purity the vow required. If this happened accidentally, the whole vow had to start over, as the following verses show.
  7. Números 6:7Even if his father, mother, brother, or sister died, the Nazirite could not go near the body, because the dedication to God, symbolized in the hair, took priority over that mourning.
  8. Números 6:8Throughout that whole period, the person was considered holy, that is, set apart specifically for the Lord.
  9. Números 6:9If someone died suddenly right next to the Nazirite, unintentionally defiling his state of separation, he had to shave his head on the seventh day as part of the purification.
  10. Números 6:10On the eighth day after this accidental defilement, the Nazirite would bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, at the entrance of the tent of the congregation.
  11. Números 6:11The priest would offer one bird for the atonement of sin and the other as a burnt offering, making atonement for the unwanted contact with death, and the Nazirite’s separation was restarted that very day.
  12. Números 6:12The person had to start the days of the vow over from zero, also bringing a lamb as a guilt offering; all the time already completed before the defilement was lost.
  13. Números 6:13Here begins the description of how a Nazirite vow officially ended, when completed without interruption: the person was brought to the entrance of the tent of the congregation.
  14. Números 6:14To close out the vow, the Nazirite would offer a lamb without blemish as a burnt offering, an ewe lamb without blemish for sin, and a ram as a peace offering.
  15. Números 6:15Along with the animals came unleavened cakes and wafers as well, made with fine flour and oil, plus the grain offering and the customary drink offerings.
  16. Números 6:16The priest would present all of this before the Lord, sacrificing first the sin offering and then the burnt offering.
  17. Números 6:17Next, the priest would sacrifice the ram as a peace offering, along with the unleavened cakes, the grain offering, and the drink offering.
  18. Números 6:18When the period of the vow ended, the Nazirite would shave off the hair he had let grow throughout that whole time and burn it together with the peace offering. This gesture marked the formal end of the special separation and the return to normal life.
  19. Números 6:19After the Nazirite shaved his head, the priest would place in his hands the boiled shoulder of the ram, an unleavened cake, and an unleavened wafer.
  20. Números 6:20The priest would wave these portions as an offering presented to the Lord; from that moment on, with the ritual finished, the Nazirite could finally drink wine again.
  21. Números 6:21This sums up the law of the Nazirite: each person fulfilled the vow as promised, including any extra offering he could afford beyond what was required.
  22. Números 6:22The Lord speaks to Moses once more, changing subject to something quite different: the official formula for the priestly blessing.
  23. Números 6:23The instruction is directed to Aaron and his sons: they are the ones responsible for pronouncing this specific blessing over the people of Israel.
  24. Números 6:24This is the blessing the priests were to pronounce over the people, word for word, as a fixed formula. It asks for protection, God’s favor, and peace, and for a long time afterward it went on being used as a formal blessing in religious settings.
  25. Números 6:25The second part of the blessing asks that the Lord’s face shine upon the person and that He be gracious to her — a poetic way of asking for divine favor and kindness.
  26. Números 6:26The third part closes by asking that the Lord turn His face toward the person and give her peace, completing the three-part blessing begun in the previous verse.
  27. Números 6:27In pronouncing this blessing, the priests were, in effect, placing God’s name on the people; but it is the Lord Himself who guarantees that the blessing actually comes to pass.

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