What Does Judges 13:7 Mean in the King James?
But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew word for “Nazarite” holds a whole life set apart inside one name: from the womb to the day of death.
THE MEANING
You are shown a life whose dedication begins before conscious choice: even the mother’s food and drink fall within its boundary. The child is named as set apart to God from the womb through death, making dedication the frame of his whole lifespan.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the assumption that a life’s dedication to God can begin only when the person chooses it: here it is named before birth and extends to death.
THE ROOT
נָזִיר
nāzîr
GROWS FROM
נזר
To separate, set apart, or dedicate.
“Nazarite” in this verse is nāzîr. The Hebrew calls him a nazir, one set apart; the same root gives nezer, meaning consecration and also a crown. The English label conceals that link, while “from the womb to the day of his death” shows the dedication spanning his whole life.
ALSO GROWS
nāzar: To separate oneself, dedicate oneself, or abstain.
נָזַר
The abstention from wine and strong drink is presented as a boundary of dedication, not as an isolated restriction.
nēzer: Consecration; a crown or diadem.
נֵזֶר
The crown sense connects the root’s idea of being set apart with a visible mark borne on the head, as Samson’s uncut hair later makes clear.
THE PATTERN
Consecration is expressed through embodied boundaries, sometimes named before birth and carried across a lifetime.
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.And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.THE THREAD
That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.Samson uses the same word, nazir, for the identity named here, and points to his uncut hair as its visible boundary. The shared root’s link to nezer, “consecration” and “crown,” brings that bodily sign into view.
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