🔢WEB · Numbers 6:3
What does Numbers 6:3 mean?
"he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of fermented drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried."
— Numbers 6:3 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: ‘When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to Yahweh,
he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of fermented drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried.
All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins.
“‘All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall come on his head, until the days are fulfilled, in which he separates himself to Yahweh. He shall be holy. He shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long.
“‘All the days that he separates himself to Yahweh he shall not go near a dead body.
Explanation
Numbers 6:3 comes from the section of the Torah that lays out the rules for what is called the Nazirite vow, a voluntary act of consecration that any Israelite man or woman could take upon themselves for a set period of time or, in rare cases, for life. In plain language, this verse says that a person under this vow must abstain completely from anything connected to grapes and wine: not just wine and beer or other fermented drinks, but even vinegar made from them, plain grape juice, and grapes themselves, whether fresh or dried into raisins. The prohibition is exhaustive — it covers every form the grape could take, so there was no loophole by which a person could claim they were only avoiding "alcohol" while still eating raisins or drinking juice.
The book of Numbers records the laws and organization of Israel during their wilderness journey after the exodus from Egypt, and Moses is understood to be the one who transmitted these instructions from God to the people. Chapter 6 specifically addresses the Nazirite vow (the word "Nazirite" comes from a Hebrew root meaning "to separate" or "to consecrate"), and it applies to ordinary Israelites who wanted to dedicate themselves to God in a special way for a season, distinct from the priests, who had their own separate regulations. The vow involved three main restrictions: abstaining from grape products (verses 3-4), not cutting one's hair (verse 5), and avoiding contact with corpses (verses 6-8). Famous examples of people connected to a Nazirite-type consecration include Samson and Sam
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