The Nazarite Vow

• Here are portions of the instructions for Nazarites from the Hebrew Old Testament.
  
  "...When either man or woman shall clearly utter a vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to consecrate himself unto the LORD, he shall abstain from wine and strong drink... All the days of his Nazariteship shall he eat nothing that is made of the grape-vine, from the pressed grapes even to the grapestone. All the days of his vow of Nazariteship there shall no razor come upon his head; until the days be fulfilled, in which he consecrateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long. All the days that he consecrateth himself unto the LORD he shall not come near to a dead body... All the days of his Nazariteship he is holy unto the LORD." (from Numbers 6:2-8)
  
  The vow could be taken for a period of time, no less than 30 days, or it could be taken as a lifelong commitment. Upon the completion of one's term as a Nazarite, certain sacrifices were to be made at the temple in Jerusalem.
  
  

The Purpose of Taking the Vow

• According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, there were several reasons that a Jewish person would take the Nazarite vow. Some took the vow for the purpose of dedicating themselves to the Lord and setting themselves apart for his service. Others chose to do so as atonement for some sin or to beg for favor or healing.
  
  

Nazarites in History

• Perhaps the most famous Nazarite in the Bible is Samson, spoken about in the Biblical book of Judges. By angelic prophecy, he was to be a Nazarite from birth, never shaving his head and, according to some texts, never drinking wine. In the course of his lifetime, he did come in contact with corpses and most likely drank wine, leading some to believe that he took a modified form of the vow, only dealing with long hair. Samson broke that portion of his vow at the end of his life, when he allowed Delilah to shave his head. (Judges 13-16)
  
  Other Nazarites in history include Samuel the prophet, a group of men at the cleansing of the temple by the Maccabees, and the tutor of the Jewish historian Josephus.
  
  

Nazarites Today

• There are very few Nazarites today, as there is no Jewish temple to offer the prescribed sacrifices. One rabbi, David Cohen (1887-1972), took upon himself the Nazarite vows. The modern Rastafari religion also contains elements of the Nazarite tradition.