Numbers 6:3

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Numbers 6:3 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “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.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

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.
Numbers 6:3 — American Standard Version

Context — Numbers 6

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
3he 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.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“He shall separate [himself] from wine, etc.] Old or new, as Ben Gersom; from drinking it, any of it: not only from an immoderate and excessive drinking of it, which every man should abstain from, but from drinking of it at all, that he might be more free and fit for the service of God; for prayer, meditation, reading the Scriptures, and attendance on the worship of God in all its branches, and be less liable to temptations to sin; for, as Aben Ezra observes, many transgressions are occasioned by wine, which, if drank immoderately, intoxicates the mind, and unfits for religious duties, excites lust, and leads on to many vices: and strong drink; any other intoxicating and inebriating liquor…”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“The law of the Nazarite is appropriately added to other enactments which concern the sanctity of the holy nation. That sanctity found its highest expression in the Nazarite vow, which was the voluntary adoption for a time of obligations to high and strict modes of self-dedication resembling, and indeed in some particulars exceeding, those under which the priests were placed. The present enactments do not institute a new kind of observance, but only regulate one already familiar to the Israelites Numbers 6:2. Numbers 6:2 A Nazarite - Strictly, Nazirite. This term signifies “separated” i. e., as the words following show, “unto God.” It became a technical term at an early date; compare Judges…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“Nor eat grapes - Which was forbidden him for greater caution to keep him at the farther distance from wine. Numbers 6:4”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“6:3-4 The law required priests to avoid drinking wine before they served in the Tabernacle (Lev 10:9); the Nazirite vow allowed non-Levites to broaden that law to include all places, all times, and anything that comes from a grapevine.”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“Besides the religious nature of this institution, it seems to have been partly of a civil and prudential use. The sobriety and temperance which the Nazarites were obliged to observe were very conducive to health. Accordingly, they were celebrated for their fair and ruddy complexion; being said to be both whiter than milk and more ruddy than rubies ( Lam 4:7); the sure signs of a sound and healthy constitution. It may here be observed, that when God intended to raise up Samson, by his strength of body, to scourge the enemies of Israel, he ordered, that from his infancy he should drink no wine, but live by the rule of the Nazarites, because that would greatly contribute to make him strong and…”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification