What Does Numbers 6:5 Mean?
All the days of the vow of his separation no blade shall pass over his head. Until the days are filled, in which he separates himself unto the LORD, he shall be set apart, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow and run free.
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
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.THE KEY
The word translated “separation” shares its Hebrew root with “crown,” so the vow’s consecration is carried on the head as uncut hair.
THE MEANING
The vow is visible across time: for all its days, the head bears the sign of what is set apart unto the LORD. Its mark remains as the hair grows without the razor’s interruption.
THE ROOT
נִזְרוֹ
nizrô
GROWS FROM
נזר
to consecrate or set apart
“separates himself unto the LORD” in this verse is nizrô. The word for this consecration belongs to the same root as nazir, the person set apart, and nezer, a consecration or crown. The vow is not an invisible status: its sign rests on the head, like a crown that marks what has been dedicated.
ALSO GROWS
nāzîr: a consecrated person, a Nazirite
נָזִיר
The person and the vow share the same root of consecration; the uncut hair makes that set-apart identity visible.
nēzer: consecration; a crown or diadem
נֵזֶר
This branch links the vow’s separation to a crown, fitting the verse’s focus on the consecrated head.
פֶּרַע
peraʿ
GROWS FROM
פרע
to let loose or leave unrestrained
“run free” in this verse is peraʿ. The Hebrew word for the locks names hair left loose and untrimmed. The vow’s visible sign comes through withholding the razor: the hair is allowed to grow without interruption.
ALSO GROWS
pāraʿ: to let loose, uncover, or leave unrestrained
פָּרַע
It reveals the uncut hair as something left free to grow, rather than shaped by the razor.
pārûaʿ: loose, uncovered, or unrestrained
פָּרוּעַ
This related form echoes the verse’s image of hair kept unbound by ordinary trimming.
קָדוֹשׁ
qādôsh
GROWS FROM
קדש
to set apart
“he shall be set apart” in this verse is qādôsh. The verse names the person’s status as holy and the vow as separation: two Hebrew roots meet in the same idea of being set apart unto the LORD. The hair is the outward sign of that consecration.
ALSO GROWS
qōdesh: set-apartness; a sacred thing
קֹדֶשׁ
It carries the same set-apart quality named here as the person’s status.
miqdāsh: a sanctuary, a set-apart place
מִקְדָּשׁ
This branch shows the root applied to something reserved for God, as the person in this verse is reserved through the vow.
THE PATTERN
A vow of set-apartness takes a visible form in the hair and endures across its appointed span.
For look, you will conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come up upon his head, for the child shall be set apart to God from the womb, and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look upon the bending low of your handmaid, and remember me, and not forget your handmaid, but give your handmaid a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.And Paul remained yet many days, then took his leave of the brothers and sailed for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila, having shorn his head in Cenchrea, for he had a vow.THE THREAD
And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look upon the bending low of your handmaid, and remember me, and not forget your handmaid, but give your handmaid a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.Both verses use נֶדֶר (neder, “vow”), from the root נדר. Numbers describes the sign across the vow’s appointed days; Hannah’s words extend the same uncut-head sign across Samuel’s life.
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