What Does Numbers 6:2 Mean in the King James?
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:
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 set-apart one shares a root with the crown of consecration: dedication becomes something worn, not merely a vow spoken.
THE MEANING
This verse presents a woman or a man choosing to mark a life as set apart unto the LORD through a vow. The dedication is chosen inwardly and takes shape in a distinct pattern of life.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that this particular vow belongs to men alone: the verse names both woman and man as able to undertake it.
THE ROOT
לְהַזִּיר
lehazir
GROWS FROM
נזר
To set apart, dedicate, or abstain.
“separate themselves unto the LORD” in this verse is lehazir. The word for the Nazarite, נָזִיר (nazir), shares this root with נֵזֶר (nezer), meaning crown or consecration. The connection pictures dedication as a marked identity, like a crown borne through one’s days.
ALSO GROWS
nazir: A person set apart or consecrated.
נָזִיר
This is the name for the person who takes the vow in the verse.
nezer: Crown, diadem, or consecration.
נֵזֶר
Numbers 6:7 uses this word for the consecration upon the Nazarite’s head, bringing the crown image into the same chapter.
נֶדֶר
neder
GROWS FROM
נדר
To vow or make a binding pledge.
The Hebrew pairs the verb נָדַר (nadar), “to vow,” with the noun נֶדֶר (neder), “a vow.” The repeated root gives the spoken commitment a concrete form: the person both vows and takes on a pledged course of life.
ALSO GROWS
nadar: To vow or pledge.
נָדַר
It names the act of choosing this dedication.
neder: A vow or pledged commitment.
נֶדֶר
It names the commitment itself, repeated alongside the verb in the phrase “to vow a vow.”
THE PATTERN
A vow gives chosen dedication a visible form and a pledged course of life.
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.When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.THE THREAD
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.“Consecration” here is נֵזֶר (nezer), from the same root as נָזִיר (nazir), the set-apart person named in this verse. The shared root reveals dedication as a marked identity borne upon the head, like a crown.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us