Bilangan 6:3

6:3 he must separate ¹  himself from wine and strong drink, he must drink neither vinegar ²  made from wine nor vinegar made from strong drink, nor may he drink any juice ³  of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins. ⁴ 

Bilangan 6:11

6:11 Then the priest will offer one for a purification offering ⁵  and the other ⁶  as a burnt offering, ⁷  and make atonement ⁸  for him, because of his transgression ⁹  in regard to the corpse. So he must reconsecrate ¹⁰  his head on that day.

Bilangan 6:20

6:20 then the priest must wave them as a wave offering ¹¹  before the Lord; it is a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the raised offering. ¹²  After this the Nazirite may drink ¹³  wine.’

[6:3]  ¹ tn The operative verb now will be the Hiphil of נָזַר (nazar); the consecration to the Lord meant separation from certain things in the world. The first will be wine and strong drink – barley beer (from Akkadian sikaru, a fermented beer). But the second word may be somewhat wider in its application than beer. The Nazirite, then, was to avoid all intoxicants as a sign of his commitment to the Lord. The restriction may have proved a hardship in the daily diet of the one taking the vow, but it spoke a protest to the corrupt religious and social world that used alcohol to excess.

[6:3]  ² tn The “vinegar” (חֹמֶץ, homets) is some kind of drink preparation that has been allowed to go sour.

[6:3]  ³ tn This word occurs only here. It may come from the word “to water, to be moist,” and so refer to juice.

[6:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “dried” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).

[6:11]  ⁵ tn The traditional translation of חַטָּאת (khatta’t) is “sin offering,” but it is more precise to render it “purification offering” (as with the other names of sacrifices) to show the outcome, not the cause of the offering (see Lev 4). Besides, this offering was made for ritual defilements (for which no confession was required) as well as certain sins (for which a confession of sin was required). This offering restored the person to the ritual state of purity by purifying the area into which he would be going.

[6:11]  ⁶ tn The repetition of “the one…and the one” forms the distributive sense of “the one…and the other.”

[6:11]  ⁷ tn The burnt offering (Lev 1) reflects the essence of atonement: By this sacrifice the worshiper was completely surrendering to God, and God was completely accepting the worshiper.

[6:11]  ⁸ tn The verb וְכִפֶּר (vÿkhipper) is the Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive. The meaning of the verb is “to expiate, pacify, atone.” It refers to the complete removal of the barrier of fellowship between the person and God, and the total acceptance of that person into his presence. The idea of “to cover,” often linked to this meaning, is derived from a homonym, and not from this word and its usage.

[6:11]  ⁹ tn The verb “to sin” has a wide range of meanings, beginning with the idea of “missing the way or the goal.” In view of the nature of this case – the prescribed ritual without confession – the idea is more that he failed to keep the vow’s stipulations in this strange circumstance than that he committed intentional sin.

[6:11]  ¹⁰ tn The verb simply means “to consecrate,” but because it refers to a vow that was interrupted, it must here mean to “reconsecrate.”

[6:20]  ¹¹ sn The ritual of lifting the hands filled with the offering and waving them in the presence of the Lord was designed to symbolize the transfer of the offering to God in the sight of all. This concludes the worshiper’s part; the offering now becomes the property of the priest – his priest’s due (or “raised/heave offering”).

[6:20]  ¹² sn The “wave offering” may be interpreted as a “special gift” to be transferred to the Lord, and the “heave offering” as a “special contribution” to God – the priest’s due. These two offerings have also inspired a good deal of study.

[6:20]  ¹³ tn The imperfect tense here would then have the nuance of permission. It is not an instruction at this point; rather, the prohibition has been lifted and the person is free to drink wine.