Exposition of the Laws of Moses, Exegesis 1 · Part 18
Commandement III. EXERCITAT. XVIII. Of the Nazarites vow.
Num. 6.2. When eyther man or woman ſhall ſeparate themſelves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, &c.
THere were three ſorts of things ſeparated to the Lord, firſt the land every ſeventh yeare was ſeparated to him: Secondly, the firſt fruits were Nazarites to the Lord, in the originall it is, ginnebhe nezirecha vuae ſeparationis, (as the Seventy tranſlate it) or ſanctificationis tuae (as the Chaldee paraphraſt hath it) and thirdly,Three ſorts of things ſeparated to God. was nazareatus perſonae a ſeparation of perſons to God.
foreignA ſeparation of perſons againe was eyther of men or women, Num. 6.2. women Nazarits, as Sampſons Mother was a Nazarit,Nazareatus terra fructuum perſonaram. when they vowed themſelves this wayes Nazarits, they were ſayd [Iaphli] to doe ſome admirable or rare thing.
foreign admirable eſſe.So Nazarits according to their ages, as they were adulti, Nazaraus adultus juvenis. p…rvulus.Iuvenes or parvuli; young men, as Amos, 2.11. they gave the Nazarits wine to drinke, or little ones, as Samuel.
Nazaraus ſeculi dierum.Nazarits againe were eyther Nazaraei ſaeculi or Nazaraei diaerum; Nazaraei ſeculi were thoſe who were perpetuall Nazarits and might not be redeemed, nor change their vow; ſuch as were Samuel Sampſon, Iohn the Baptiſt and Iames, as Clemens teſtifieth, theſe Nazarits ſome of them were ſeparated to the Lord by the vow of their mother, as Samuels mother vowed him a Nazarite from his conception, min nagnaro, as ſoone as he ſtirred in his mothers bellie.
The Child ſhall be a Nazarite from the wombe to the day of his birth, Iudg. 13.7. that is,foreign a foreign movere from the time of his conception, and from the time of his birth; but when it is ſayd, Act. 3.2. he was lame from his mothers wombe, here both the time of his conception and his birth are comprehended. So Galat. 1.15. who ſeparated me from my mothers womhe, that is, from the time that my mother conceived me. So Pſal. 22.10. I was caſt upon thee from the the wombe, that is, from the time that ſhe conceived me. So Iere. 1.6. Pſal, 58.3. the wicked are eſtranged from the womb they goe aſtray as ſoone as they be borne, here from the wombe ſignified the time from their conception.
Nazzaaei dierum were thoſe who vowed themſelves a time onelyonly, but after the time was expired, they were no more Nazarites.
The vow of the voluntary Nazarit laſted but thirty dayes, as the Iewes gather;Mamone of his treatiſe of entring into the ſanctuary, Cap. ſect. 8.14. Abſolon polled his head the thirtieth day of his vow, ſo did the voluntarie Nazarite, ſay they, and the inferiour prieſts ſhaved their heads every thirtieth day.
Thoſe who were ſeparated to be Nazarits were commanded to abſteine from three things; firſt from wine, ſecondly, from touching of the dead; and thirdly, that no raſor ſhould come upon their head to cut their haire.
They are commanded not to eate the kernell of the raiſin; ſecondly, not to eate the raiſin It ſelfe; and thirdly, not to drinke the wine, as they might drinke no wine, ſo neither might they drinke ex maceratis vuis quas foreign or ſecundaria vina vocat Plinius; So they might drinke no vineger, the Seventy, foreign as made of apples, dates, &c. ſo a vino hordei, as Athenaeus calleth it.
They were commanded to abſteine from wine and ſtrong drinke; wine here is put before ſtrong drinke, Scriptura enim nominat genus quandoque post ſpeciem, Regula.the Lord ſaith, Amos 2.11. he raiſed up of their young men for Nazarits, but verſ. 12. they gave their Nazarits wine to drinke, they ſhould have learned abſtinencie from the Nazarits, but they intiſed the Nazarits to drinke wine, contrary to the Law.
The uſe that we may make of this is firſt to ſhew us that it is a ſinne to be partaker of another mans ſinnes, Pſal 50.18. when thou ſaweſt a theefe then thou conſentedſt with him, and waſt pertaker with the adulterer. Secondly, not onelyonly to be partaker, but approve the ſame, Rom. 1.32. thirdly, it is a greater ſinne to be examples to others in ſinne, as Iud. 11. woe be to them for they have gone in the way of Cain, but it is the greateſt ſinne of all, to provoke others to ſinne, as here they provoked the Nazarits to drinke wine, and gave them wine to drinke.
Secondly, they were commanded to abſteine from the dead, and not to come neare their fathers, brethren or ſiſters, if they were dead; if a man dyed ſuddenly by them, they were defiled; and if they touched but one who touched the dead, they were defiled; the ſame holineſſe was required of them, that was required of the highprieſt to abſteine from the dead.
Maimone in his treatiſe of mourning, cap. 3.The Iewes ſay, if the Highprieſt had lighted upon a dead bodie in the way, hee might defile himſelfe and bury the dead, being alone, and none to helpe him: So they ſay, if an inferiour Prieſt and a Nazarite were walking together, if he had beene but Nazaraeus dierum, he was to burie the dead, becauſe his holineſſe was not perpetuall; but if he had beene a perpetuall Nazarite then the inferior Prieſt was to bury the dead, and not he, becauſe as great purity was required in the perpetuall Nazarite, as in the Prieſt concerning the dead.
Queſt. Did not Sampſon ſinne being a Nazarite by touching of the dead bodies, and taking off their cloathes?
Anſw. He did this by the ſingular direction of the ſpirit of the Lord; ſo he dranke of the water which flowed out of the law bone of the Aſſe, and eate of the honey which was in the dead Lion, which were al unclean by the law.
The heathen Prieſts learned of them not to touch the dead,Seneca conſolatione ad Marcian. cap 15. the Flaminian Prieſts might not put ſhoes upon their feete of the leather of that beaſt which dyed of it ſelfe, and if a Prieſt happened to have a funerall oration before the dead corpes, he uſed to ſtretch a vaile betwixt him and the corpes, that he might not ſee it, Non licebat Flamini Diali tibias funebres-audire, nec locum in quo buſtum erat, ingredi: A Flaminian Prieſt might not heare the ſound of the pipes which were at burialls, neither might he come into that place where there was a grave.
The third thing was this, that no Raſor came upon their head: they ſuffered their haire to grow,foreign, intonſi therefore they were called foreign, & they were called foreign, vel intonſi, and if they were voluntary Nazarits, no Razor might come upon their heads untill the vow was expired, and then their haire was cut and caſt under the Altar, & burnt: but if they were perpetuall Nazarits, there came never a razor upon their head, but their haire was onelyonly cut about, and this was cincta caeſaries; Dalila cut off Sampſons haire, yet he ceaſed not to be a Nazarit; for the Angell ſaid, that he ſhould be a NaZarit unto his death. The haire was a ſigne of ſtrength, and as long as Sampſon kept his haire, hee kept his ſtrength; and God threatning to weaken the eſtate of his people, uſeth this ſimilitude, that he will ſhaue the haire with a razor. Eſay. 7.20. In the ſame day ſhall the Lord ſhave with a razor.
When the voluntary Nazaret vowed a vow for thirty dayes, and in the meane time defiled himſelfe, by touching of the dead; if the whole time had beene ſpent to one day, and then if he had touched any uncleane thing,foreign all theſe former dayes were reckoned nothing to him (Iob. 3.6. [Naphal] fugient, aut dilabentur: Onkelos, inutiles erunt, Perire diem ad emboliſmum pertinet.or let let them be reckoned amongſt the intercalar dayes which were not numbered amongſt the dayes of the yeere) and he was to begin his vow anew againe: ſo it is in the courſe of our ſanctification, when we hauehave gone on a while in it, and then fall into ſome great ſinne, in that caſe we are to begin our ſanctification anew againe. Act. 7.42. O yee houſe of Iſrael, have ye offered to me ſlaine beaſts, and ſacrificed by the ſpace of forty yeeres in the Wilderneſſe? They offered to the Lord ſundry times in the Wildernes according to his ordinance; but becauſe now they fell to worſhip Idols, therefore the Lord reckoned the former ſacrifices, as though they had not beene offered to him.
When the Iſraelites had travelled to the confines of Moab to Kadeſh-Barnea, they fell a murmuring there againſt the Lord, therefore the Lord brought them backe againe, after that they had paſſed ſixteene ſtationes. Num. 33.20.35, To the red Sea in which they were baptized, 1 Cor. 10.2. So when we fall from the Lord, we are to returne backe againe to our Baptiſme and firſt vow.
And he came and dwelt in Nazaret, that it might be fulfilled, which was ſpoken by the Prophet. Matth. 2.23. And he ſhall be a Naſarit to the Lord.
Queſt. How were theſe two accompliſhed in Chriſt, he was called both a Naſarit, and a Nazarit.
Anſw. Chriſt was a Nazaret, the true branch of the roote of leſſe,Nazaraus vot…, Nazarenus habitatione. and he was a Naſarit truly ſeparate to the Lord; and Satan acknowledged him to be foreign Luc. 4. As Sampſō was foreign, ſanctified to the Lord in type;foreign. he was both foreign et foreign eſt foreign, ſanctus, and he was foreign oriundus ex Nazaret, and in the title of Chriſts Croſſe there was an alluſion to that plate of gold which was upon the forehead of the high Prieſt, and therefore Aaron was called the Saint of the Lord, becauſe he had holineſſe to the Lord written in his forehead; that plate of gold was called Nezer, it had written upon it foreign, which is foreign. Exod. 30.39. It was written, that is, ingraven in the plate, Chriſt was that true Nazarit holy, blameleſſe, and undefiled; we are to marke, that the Seventy to facilitate words, and to make them the more eaſie to be pronounced, write the words different from the Hebrew, as they ſay, Samaria for Shemron, ſo Solomon, for Shelomoh, ſo Naſareus for Nazareus, & the devil being well acquainted with all languages, could cal Chriſt foreign putting [S] for [Z] ſo in the inſcription upon the Croſſe they call him that Naſarit or Nazarit.
Ob. But Chriſt did drinke wine therfore he cannot be called Naſarit, but Nazarit onelyonly.
Anſw. He was not a legall Naſarit, for he fulfilled that in his forerunner Iohn the Baptiſt; but he was the true Naſarit ſeparated from ſinners; the Iewes in contempt called Chriſt a Nazarit, and ſo Iulian the apoſtate called Chriſt a Galilean, becauſe Nazarit ſtood in Galilee, and it was for this, that the Chriſtians were called at the firſt Nazaraei, but afterward their name was changed at Antioch, and they were called Meſichijm, Chriſtiani.
From the cutting of the Nazarits haire, they brought in ſhaving of the heads in the Chriſtian Church, and they ſaid, that long haire ſignified ſuperfluity in manners; hence came this ſpeech afterwards, Tonſo capite fieri monachus; judaizing in this point.