Judges 13 The Nazirite Vow

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
Judges 13:1 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.

2 A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. 3 The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son. 4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean. 5 You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

6 Then the woman went to her husband and told him, “A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. 7 But he said to me, ‘You will become pregnant and have a son. Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.’”​

Let's open with the commentary from Bible.org.

There is really no way to understand the life of Samson without knowing something about the Nazirite vow. The vow and its requirements are set forth in Numbers 6:1-21. Here’s the essence of the teaching of that text:

The Nazirite vow is a voluntary vow of separation unto God, which can be made by either a man or a woman.

The Nazirite vow is normally a temporary vow, one made for that period of time which the individual stipulates at the beginning of the vow.

The person making the vow must abstain not only from wine, but from everything derived from the grape vine. This would include grape juice, grape skins, grape seeds, and raisins.

The person making the vow must avoid contact with anything dead, even family members.

If any defilement occurs during the period of the vow, the individual must go through a cleansing process and then begin the vow period all over.

The person making the Nazirite vow must also abstain from cutting their hair for the period of time the vow is in effect. Once the stipulated period has ended, sacrifices are offered to God, and the hair is cut off and offered up on the sacrificial fire as well.

This is from the easy English site.

An angel appeared to Samson’s mother. Neither she nor her husband understood who he really was until verse 20. Until then, they thought that he was ‘a man of God’ (a prophet). Or otherwise he was an angel of God. Samson was a Nazirite. (Look at Numbers 6:1-21.) This means that he made a special promise. There were many things that he could not do. He could not drink wine (from grapes) or strong drink (from fruit or grain). He could not touch a dead body and nobody could cut his hair. He must definitely refuse some natural things. In other words, he had to say ‘no’ to them. This showed how definite was his ‘yes’ to God. Samson’s mother had to obey some things in the promise. She could not eat or drink anything that God did not allow. Samson obeyed only the rule that nobody should cut his hair. He did not obey the other rules. He only began to remove the Philistines. (Samuel, Saul, Jonathan and David continued to do it.)​

It was a Nazirite Preacher in the Lothian area who introduced me the NIV Bible. He not only knew the Bible better than anyone I had met yet, he knew how to help others learn. I think about that preacher every now and then..... I am thankful for those Bible Studies.

:coffee:
 
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