Numbers 6: Set Apart and Blessed
God provides for those who consecrate themselves by the Nazirite vow, then gives Aaron the words by which his name rests on his people.
Numbers 6 (WEB)
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “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,
3 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.
4 All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins.
5 “‘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.
6 “‘All the days that he separates himself to Yahweh he shall not go near a dead body.
7 He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die; because his separation to God is on his head.
8 All the days of his separation he is holy to Yahweh.
9 “‘If any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles the head of his separation; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing. On the seventh day he shall shave it.
10 On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting.
11 The priest shall offer one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead, and shall make his head holy that same day.
12 He shall separate to Yahweh the days of his separation, and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a trespass offering; but the former days shall be void, because his separation was defiled.
13 “‘This is the law of the Nazirite: when the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the Tent of Meeting,
14 and he shall offer his offering to Yahweh, one male lamb a year old without defect for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without defect for a sin offering, and one ram without defect for peace offerings,
15 and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their meal offering, and their drink offerings.
16 The priest shall present them before Yahweh, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering.
17 He shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its meal offering, and its drink offering.
18 The Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings.
19 The priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the head of his separation;
20 and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. This is holy for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is offered. After that the Nazirite may drink wine.
21 “‘This is the law of the Nazirite who vows, and of his offering to Yahweh for his separation, besides that which he is able to get. According to his vow which he vows, so he must do after the law of his separation.’”
22 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘This is how you shall bless the children of Israel.’ You shall tell them,
24 ‘Yahweh bless you, and keep you.
25 Yahweh make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you.
26 Yahweh lift up his face toward you, and give you peace.’
27 “So they shall put my name on the children of Israel; and I will bless them.”
Numbers 6 (KJV)
1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord:
3 He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.
4 All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.
5 All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.
6 All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come at no dead body.
7 He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head.
8 All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord.
9 And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it.
10 And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:
11 And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day.
12 And he shall consecrate unto the Lord the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.
13 And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:
14 And he shall offer his offering unto the Lord, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings,
15 And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings.
16 And the priest shall bring them before the Lord, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering:
17 And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his meat offering, and his drink offering.
18 And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings.
19 And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after the hair of his separation is shaven:
20 And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord: this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder: and after that the Nazarite may drink wine.
21 This is the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed, and of his offering unto the Lord for his separation, beside that that his hand shall get: according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation.
22 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
23 Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,
24 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
25 The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
27 And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.
Numbers 6 (ASV)
1 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself unto Jehovah,
3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried.
4 All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the grape-vine, from the kernels even to the husk.
5 All the days of his vow of separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in which he separateth himself unto Jehovah, he shall be holy; he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long.
6 All the days that he separateth himself unto Jehovah he shall not come near to a dead body.
7 He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die; because his separation unto God is upon his head.
8 All the days of his separation he is holy unto Jehovah.
9 And if any man die very suddenly beside him, and he defile the head of his separation; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it.
10 And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tent of meeting:
11 and the priest shall offer one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering, and make atonement for him, for that he sinned by reason of the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day.
12 And he shall separate unto Jehovah the days of his separation, and shall bring a he-lamb a year old for a trespass-offering; but the former days shall be void, because his separation was defiled.
13 And this is the law of the Nazirite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tent of meeting:
14 and he shall offer his oblation unto Jehovah, one he-lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt-offering, and one ewe-lamb a year old without blemish for a sin-offering, and one ram without blemish for peace-offerings,
15 and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their meal-offering, and their drink-offerings.
16 And the priest shall present them before Jehovah, and shall offer his sin-offering, and his burnt-offering:
17 and he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace-offerings unto Jehovah, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also the meal-offering thereof, and the drink-offering thereof.
18 And the Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tent of meeting, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace-offerings.
19 And the priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazirite, after he hath shaven the head of his separation;
20 and the priest shall wave them for a wave-offering before Jehovah; this is holy for the priest, together with the wave-breast and heave-thigh: and after that the Nazirite may drink wine.
21 This is the law of the Nazirite who voweth, and of his oblation unto Jehovah for his separation, besides that which he is able to get: according to his vow which he voweth, so he must do after the law of his separation.
22 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
23 Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel: ye shall say unto them,
24 Jehovah bless thee, and keep thee:
25 Jehovah make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
26 Jehovah lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
27 So shall they put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.
Summary
God gives the law of the Nazirite, a man or woman who makes a special vow to separate themselves to the Lord. During the days of the vow they abstain from wine and anything from the grapevine, let no razor touch their head, and avoid all contact with the dead, even close family. Their uncut hair is the visible sign of their consecration. If someone dies suddenly beside them, the Nazirite becomes defiled and must shave, make offerings, and begin the vow again. When the period is complete, the Nazirite brings offerings, shaves the head, and may again drink wine, the vow fulfilled. The chapter then turns to the priestly blessing that God places on Aaron and his sons: a threefold word that asks the Lord to bless and keep his people, to make his face shine on them and be gracious, and to lift up his countenance and give them peace. By these words God puts his name on the children of Israel, and promises that he himself will bless them. Consecration and blessing meet here: a people set apart for God live under the smile of God.
Main Characters
- Yahweh (the LORD) — The God who receives the consecration of the Nazirite and promises to bless his people, putting his own name upon them.
- The Nazirite — A man or woman who takes a special vow of separation to the Lord, marked by abstaining from the vine, uncut hair, and avoiding the dead.
- Aaron and his sons — The priests entrusted with the words of blessing by which God's favor is spoken over Israel.
- The children of Israel — The people on whom God's name is placed and to whom he promises his blessing and peace.
Key Verse
Numbers 6:24 (WEB)
‘Yahweh bless you, and keep you.
Lessons Learned
- Wholehearted devotion to God may take visible, costly, and deliberate forms (Numbers 6:2).
- Consecration is something both men and women may freely embrace before the Lord (Numbers 6:2).
- God delights to bless his people and places his own name upon them (Numbers 6:27).
- Peace with God is his gift, flowing from his shining face turned toward us (Numbers 6:26).
- Devotion can be deliberate and visible. The Nazirite makes a vow “to separate himself to Yahweh” (Numbers 6:2, WEB). Some seasons of life call for a chosen, marked-out consecration to God.
- Blessing comes from God's keeping. “Yahweh bless you, and keep you” (Numbers 6:24, WEB). To be blessed is to be held and guarded by the God who gives the blessing.
- God's face is grace. “Yahweh make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you” (Numbers 6:25, WEB). The favor of God turned toward us is the source of all true good.
- God gives peace and his name. He lifts up his face “and give you peace” (Numbers 6:26, WEB), so putting his name on his people (6:27). Peace with God is his gift, secured by his own promise.
- What does the Nazirite vow teach about wholehearted, deliberate devotion to God?
- Why might God include both men and women in the freedom to take this special vow?
- What does each line of the Aaronic blessing reveal about God's heart toward his people?
- What does it mean that God puts his name on Israel through this blessing?
- How does it change your day to know that God desires to make his face shine on you and give you peace?
- The Nazirite chooses a costly, visible separation to the Lord (6:2), showing that devotion sometimes takes concrete, sacrificial form. Help the group value seasons of focused consecration without turning devotion into mere external rule-keeping.
- The vow is open to “a man or woman” (6:2), affirming that wholehearted devotion is not limited by gender or status. Encourage the group to see every believer as invited into deep, personal consecration to God.
- Each line moves outward: God blesses and keeps, shines and is gracious, lifts his face and gives peace (6:24-26). Together they show a God eager to do good, to be present, and to grant peace. Linger on the warmth of this blessing.
- By the blessing God “put my name on the children of Israel” (6:27), claiming them as his own and pledging his favor. To bear God's name is to belong to him and to live under his promised care. Connect this to belonging to God in Christ.
- This is a personal-application question. Invite members to receive the blessing personally, perhaps reading it over one another. As leader, point to Jesus, in whom God's face shines on us with grace and peace, and encourage the group to walk in that assurance.