John Calvin Commentary Numbers 6

When either man, or woman shall separate themselves. God recently appointed a tribute for every soul, by which the Israelites were to acknowledge that they were His children. By that profession, then, He bound them all to Himself, from the least to the greatest. A closer tie of obligation is now addressed, when anyone voluntarily devoted himself to God for a season.

These were called Nazarites, which is equivalent to separate or select, because there was greater dignity or excellence in them than in the common people. For they were like ornaments to the Church, and God willed that His special glory should shine brightly in them.

When, therefore, Amos expostulates with them (Amos 2:11) because they had prevented the prophets from exercising their office and had corrupted the Nazarites with wine, he says, in amplification of their crime, that they had been honored with a special blessing when God had made some of their sons Nazarites and prophets. And when Jeremiah deplores the desolation of the Church, he insists on this corruption: that their Nazarites no longer appeared as of old, purer than snow, etc. (Lamentations 4:7).

Nor is it to be doubted that when Jacob distinguished Joseph his son by the title of a Nazarite³³¹ among his brothers (Genesis 49:26), he alluded in the spirit of prophecy to that degree of honor in which, afterwards under the Law, those stood who separated themselves to God as the lights of the Church.

Therefore, although this consecration did not pertain to the whole people, yet it should deservedly be counted among the exercises of piety, because the Nazarites were like standard-bearers to show others the way. And though they did not attract all to follow their example, yet the ardor of their zeal was of no little advantage to the weak and inexperienced, exciting them forward according to their capacity.

Now, because God abominates all fictitious worship, He put a restraint on their licentiousness by giving them a clear and certain rule. And, from the testimony of Amos which I have just quoted, it is gathered that God alone was the institutor of the Nazarite vow.

We must remember, then, that the Nazarites shone among the people of God like precious jewels. Although few imitated them, they were like standard-bearers and leaders to awaken zeal among the multitude for the service of God.

We must observe, by the way, that Samson was a Nazarite of another kind, because he did not take the vow upon himself only for a season but was sanctified from the womb for his whole life and separated from the rest of the people. In this respect, too, he was a type of Christ and represented Him, as it were.

And surely whatever is taught here should be referred to the sole Fountain of sanctity, as if the image of Christ had been set before the eyes of the Jews in a mirror. For the nearer anyone under the Law approached God, the more Christ shone forth in him.

We know that the whole priesthood of the Law was nothing but His image. The same may be said of the Nazarites, whose purity and abstinence adorned them with special dignity.

He shall separate himself from wine. The first instruction is that they should not only abstain from wine, but also that they should not even taste grapes or anything connected with wine. The simple rule was that they should not drink wine or anything intoxicating. However, because people are crafty in inventing deceptions, it was necessary to specify the ways by which the Law might be violated.

Thus, by abstaining from wine, they would not have deprived themselves of luxuries—whether by indulging in fresh or dried grapes, by mixing water with grapes and expressing their juice, or by imitating the sweetness of wine with other delicate preparations. Therefore, it becomes clear how many secret recesses and lurking-places human hypocrisy possesses, while it shamelessly devises foolish deceptions to cheat God Himself.

But, at the same time, we must note that this craftiness was intolerable to God, who is pleased by nothing as much as sincerity. We will also see elsewhere that the priests, when they were performing their duties by turns in the Temple, were forbidden the use of wine. This similarity proves what I have already said: that the Nazarites were thus separated from the multitude so that they might approach the honor of the priesthood.

However, abstinence from wine was commanded not only so they might avoid drunkenness, but also so their whole way of living might be more temperate and frugal. For the drinking of wine is well known to be among the chief pleasures of the table, and those who are not self-restrained will rather content themselves with moderate and common food than endure being deprived of wine.

We may, then, learn from this that a sober use of wine is a most important part of temperate living. In all gluttony and intemperance, what is most to be condemned is when people have too great a love for excessive wine-drinking.

It is then astonishing that when the monks under the Papacy boast of their angelic perfection, they should unanimously refuse to abstain from wine. For many,³³² it is sinful to touch even a bit of beef or pork their entire lives, and they would glory in being martyrs if they obstinately preferred to die rather than eat meat in a case of necessity.

However, their temperance is so inconsistent that this austerity regarding food grants them greater license in drinking, as if they purposely avenged themselves in this manner.³³³ Therefore, nothing can be more insufferable than their boasting, since this abstinence in eating alone is a mere mockery of God.

There shall no razor come upon his head. It cannot be certainly determined why God would have the Nazarites let their hair grow, except that by this visible mark of their consecration, they might be continually reminded of their vow. Some think that it was a mark of honor, as if they wore a crown on their heads. In this the Popish clergy are more than ridiculous, comparing themselves to the Nazarites by their circular tonsure.³³⁴

But this reason satisfies me: that God would constantly discipline them in the faithful performance of their vow by this visible sign. It is a mark of manhood to cut the hair, and this, as Paul says, a natural feeling dictates (1 Corinthians 11:14). Therefore, the dedication of the Nazarites was shown conspicuously by their heads, so that they would not fail in their own vows through carelessness or forgetfulness.

A question arises regarding women, for whom this command appears superfluous. But this is easily answered: they were also bound to let their hair grow, so as to have it long not only from custom but in accordance with their vow. Yet there will be nothing absurd in the synecdoche, by which what is said of both sexes applies only to males.

Here also the devil formerly played his game, when he persuaded certain monks, as Augustine relates,³³⁵ to make a show of sanctity by wearing long hair. For, so that the celibacy which they had vowed might be more conspicuous, they would not allow themselves to be men, having made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake (Matthew 19:12); and, therefore, their long hair was a sign of their virginity. This example teaches us to beware of the wiles of Satan, so that our κακοζηλία does not make us apes rather than imitators of the ancients.

He shall come at no dead body. This, too, they had in common with the high priest: they were not even to mourn for their relatives. Although Moses enjoins two things—that the Nazarites should not make themselves unclean either by entering the house of mourning or by mourning themselves—it was indeed a duty of humanity to bury the dead. However, if any of the people touched a dead body, or came near a deathbed or bier, they were polluted.

But God demands more of the Nazarites, lest they should contract uncleanness. For it was not sufficient for them (as will be seen again soon) to purify themselves according to the customary means; instead, it was necessary for them to be far removed from all things that would pollute them.

But why the touch of a dead body constituted pollution, we will consider in more detail in its proper place. For now, it must be briefly concluded that because death represents God’s curse—the wages of sin—the Israelites were thus admonished to beware of dead works.³³⁶

Regarding mourning, the reason for the prohibition was different: namely, that those who professed the special service of God should set an example to others of magnanimity and submission. If it were sinful to weep and lament when our friends are taken from us, Christ would not have wept at the tomb of Lazarus. But because perturbation is always associated with grief, and people in their mourning are too inclined to give way to ambition and pomp, voluntarily and purposely provoking themselves to excess (as if nature did not already carry them further than is right), the Nazarites could not give an example of moderation if they mingled with mourners.

Therefore, just as they were previously restrained from daintiness, so now a remedy is applied to the opposite affliction, namely, sorrow. But although all ought to seek to indulge it moderately, something more is prescribed for the Nazarites, so that, as if disentangled and stripped from earthly affections, they should go further than the rest of the people—as we will see later with respect to the priests.

And if any man die very suddenly. Here is prescribed what must be done if a defilement should have been contracted which no precaution could have prevented. If a Nazarite should have willingly and knowingly entered a house of mourning, or should have come near a dead body, his consecration would have been violated not without sin; but, in the case of a sudden death, the error was excusable, though God commands that it should be expiated.

For whatever time of the vow had passed He counts for nothing, nor will it be taken into account. This was no light punishment, that he, who had been guilty of no fault, should begin to pay his vow altogether afresh. Besides the loss of the time, a sacrifice is also added, by which he who was polluted should prepare himself for a new consecration.

But, because this consecration was voluntary, no one could complain of the immoderate rigor to which he had subjected himself of his own accord. Meanwhile, it was shown how precious to God is the purity of His worship.³³⁷

Two Hebrew words from different roots, though they are of similar meaning, are used, by which mode of speaking Moses wished more fully to express the unexpected nature of the death. For, in my opinion, it is puerile of the Jews to understand the first of a bloody murder, the other of a sudden death.