INTRODUCTION Nazirites, Those Who Made a Special Vow to Abstain
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INTRODUCTION Nazirites, those who made a special vow to abstain from certain behavior such as drinking wine, cutting their hair, or having con- tact with a corpse, appear on a number of occasions in sources of the late Second Temple period. According to the historian Josephus, for instance, a group of Nazirites appeared in Jerusalem on the occa- sion of Agrippa I’s reinstatement to the throne of Judaea in ca. AD 41,1 and Bernice, the sister of Agrippa II, is said to have visited Jerusalem to discharge a vow during the tumult under Florus in AD 66.2 Even the apostle Paul, according to the author Luke,3 is said to have observed a temple ritual involving four men under a vow, an event which led to his arrest and eventual deportation to Rome where later, according to tradition, he met his fate. Despite an association with key personalities and tendency to appear at peculiar junctures, little is known about Nazirites in this period, in particular, what role they held within the social lives of Jews. Nominally, the name in Greek (Nazira›ow, pl. Nazira›oi) resem- bles the nomenclature of known socio-religious groups of the period, such as the Pharisees (Farisa›oi), Sadducees (Sadduka›oi), and Essenes (ÉEssa›oi, or ÉEsshnoi), and some have speculated whether Nazirites comprised such a group, perhaps one akin to the sect of the Nazarenes mentioned in the book of Acts and in the writings of the early church fathers.4 Although similar in name to these groups, however, perti- nent sources never describe Nazirites as constituents of any volun- tary association. Rather, they are described merely as partakers of a private, albeit very popular, form of religious activity, namely that of making a special kind of vow. 1 Josephus, A. J. 19.294. 2 Josephus, B. J. 2.313–4. 3 Acts 21.23–7ff. 4 See n. 16, p. 152. 2 introduction Nazirite Origins in the Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible makes relatively few attestations to Nazirites, and consequently little is known about them prior to the close of the biblical period. Samson, the hero in the book of Judges, who clad in flowing locks slew the Philistine armies with the jawbone of an ass and tore down the gates of Gaza with his bare hands, is the only person actually named a Nazirite. Samuel, the prophet of YHWH during the formative years of Israel’s monarchy is described in terms closely resembling one, if, like Samson, his prescribed lifelong absti- nence from the use of a razor is taken as a mark denoting a Nazirite (I Sam. 1.11).5 Nazirites are referred to, arguably, on only two other occasions in the Bible: once in the prophetic book of Amos (2.11–2) as those who were “forced to drink wine” by contemptuous Israel; and once as the implied subjects of a vow, called the “vow of the Nazirite,” legislated for in the book of Numbers (6.1–21).6 The term “Nazirite” (alternatively spelled Nazarite) is a translit- eration into English of the Hebrew nominative nazir (ryzn), based on the Latin nazareus.7 ryzn, a derivative of the root nzr (rzn), which means in its verbal sense “to separate,”8 and in other syntactical forms “sep- aration,” “consecration,” or even “crown,” “headpiece,” or “anoint- ing oil” (such as worn of a king or the High Priest),9 carries the meaning of someone or something separated or consecrated for a special purpose. In Gen. 49.26 and Deut. 33.16, for example, the term is used in reference to Joseph as one who was “set apart (RSV)” or “distinguished (NAS)” from his brethren,10 and in Lev. 25.5,11 5 There is a strong tradition in later Jewish literature that Samuel was a Nazirite (I Sam. 1.11 LXX, 4QSam.a, and Ben Sira 46.13 [Heb.]). Evidence that some thought that Samuel was not a Nazirite, however, may be found in m. Naz. 9.5 and Tg. J. to I Sam. 1.11. 6 Lamentations 4.7 also makes reference to hyryzn, “her Nazirites,” or “her anointed ones”? However, no description of abstinence is stated such as in Amos 2.11–2. μyrzn in this context likely refers to a more generic group of “consecrated ones (NAS),” perhaps a reference to some form of officialdom. 7 For useful word studies on ryzn, see THAT, vol. 2, s. v. “ryzn,” by J. Kühlewein; and ThWAT, vol. 5, s. v. “rzn,” by G. Mayer; see also A. Salvesen, “rzn,” in Semantics of Ancient Hebrew (ed. T. Muraoka; AbrNSup 6; Louvain-la-Nueve: Peeters, 1998). 8 Cf. Lev. 15.31, 22.2. 9 Cf. Lev. 8.9, 21.12; 2 Ki. 11.12. 10 In later rabbinic literature, Joseph is thought to have been a Nazirite in the likeness of Num. 6.1–21, et al.; cf. Midrash Rabbah Gen. 98.20 where although the “crown” (Aramaic lylk for MT ryzn) of his brethren, Joseph was nonetheless a.