What Does Numbers 6:19 Mean?
And the priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall set them upon the hands of the separated one, after the hair of his separation shall be shaved.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
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:THE KEY
The “Nazarite” and “his separation” share one Hebrew root, so the vow’s bodily sign gives way to portions placed in his hands.
THE MEANING
The vow reaches a tangible turning point: after the hair of separation is shaved, the priest places the cooked shoulder and unleavened portions into the Nazarite’s hands. Dedication moves from a mark carried on the body to something held in the hands.
THE ROOT
נִזְרוֹ
nizro
GROWS FROM
נזר
To dedicate or consecrate; to be set apart.
The Hebrew word for “his separation” comes from the same root as “Nazarite,” linking the person to the consecration that marks him. A related form, nezer, can mean both consecration and a crown or diadem, connecting the shaved hair to a visible sign of being set apart.
ALSO GROWS
nāzîr: A consecrated person; a Nazarite.
נָזִיר
This is the name for the person whose vow reaches its closing moment in the verse.
nezer: Consecration; also a crown or diadem.
נֵזֶר
The sense of a crown links consecration with a mark worn on the head, the very place where the Nazarite’s hair is shaved.
THE PATTERN
Consecration becomes tangible when what is set apart is placed into hands as an offering.
And he set all of it upon Aaron's hands, and upon his sons' hands, and waved them as a waving offering before the LORD.And the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. This is set apart for the priest, with the breast of the wave offering and the lifted shoulder. And after that the separated one may drink wine.Therefore I urge you, brothers, through the compassions of God, to set your bodies beside God as a living sacrifice, set apart, well-pleasing to him, which is your true service.THE THREAD
And the separated one shall shave the head of his separation at the opening of the tent of meeting, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and set it in the fire that is beneath the slaughter of wholeness.“Nazarite” and “his separation” both carry the root נזר, joining the person to the vow embodied in the hair. This verse shows the next movement: after the hair is shaved and placed in the fire, the priest places the offering portions into the Nazarite’s hands.
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