CHAP. VIII. OF THE NAZARITES AND RECHABITES. GODWIN makes a threefold distinction of Nazarites, which we shall find to be merely a distinctio nominis, as the logicians express themselves, and not a divisio generis in species. nazar, separavit, The first sort, called Nazarites from are mentioned several times in the Old and New Testament; the second, whose name is derived from the city Nazareth, are occasionally mentioned in the New; for the third, who rejected the five books of Moses, and were therefore termed Nazarites, according to Godwin, from w nasa, dissecuit, because they cut off or excluded these books from the canon of scripture; finding no mention of them either in the Old Testament, or in the New, I think they deserve no further notice: it is chiefly the first sort, that we are now to consider. The first person, to whom the title nazir is applied is Joseph, who in the forty-ninth chapter of Genesis is said to be nezir echaiv, which we render "separated from 187 "Nazaræi his brethren," Gen. xlix, 26; but the Vulgate, inter fratres suos." Moses gives him the same title, in the blessing which he pronounced on his posterity in the book of Deuteronomy: "Let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren," Deut. xxxiii, 16; echaiv. He is called nazir, not because he was of any particular sect, or such a Nazarite as those concerning whom we are discoursing; but for one or other of the following reasons; either because he was separated from the society of his brethren by their malice towards him, or from their evil practices and examples by the grace of God, or was advanced by providence so high above them in dignity and honour. The nezir Septuagint espouses the last mentioned reason, reading nezir echaiv, in Genesis, επι κορυφής ων ηγήσατο αδελφων, super caput fratrum, quorum dux fuit; and in Deuteronomy, επι κορυφης δοξασθεις επ' αδελφοις, super verticem glorificatus in fratribus. Hence the word nezer is sometimes used for a royal or sacerdotal crown or diadem: "Thou hast profaned his (the king's) crown, a nezer, by casting it to the ground," Psalm lxxxix, 23. Again, "They made the plate of the holy crown (of the high-priest) of pure gold," Exod. xxxix, 30. But whatever was the reason of Joseph's being called nazir, the word came afterwards to denote a particular sort of separation and devotedness to God; and on that account was applied to the Nazarites: who were accordingly of two sorts, such as were by their parents devoted to God in their infancy, or even sometimes before they were born, and such as devoted themselves. The former are called Nazaræi nativi, and were Nazarites for life; the latter Nazaræi votivi, who ordinarily bound themselves to observe the laws of the Nazarites only for a limited time. In the number of the Nazarai nativi, or perpetual Nazarites, were Sampson, Judg. xiii, 5; Samuel, 1 Sam. i, 11; and John the Baptist, Luke i, 15. All that we can discover in their way of life, which was peculiar, was, that they were to abstain from wine and intoxicating liquors, and were not to shave their heads, but let their hair grow to its full length. It is true, neither Samuel nor John the Baptist are expressly called Nazarites, as Samson is. Nevertheless, as one law of the Nazarites is mentioned to which Samuel was obliged, namely, that no razor should come upon his head; and another to which the Baptist was obliged, that he should drink neither wine nor strong drink; it is reasonably presumed they were both under obligation to observe all the laws of the perpetual Nazarites. The rabbies insist, that Absalom was a perpetual Nazarite, because he wore his hair so long, that when he polled it, it weighed two hundred shekels, 2 Sam. xiv, 26. But as this circumstance is mentioned immediately after the account of the beauty of his person, ver. 25, it leads one to conclude, that he wore his hair so long, rather for ornament, than on any religious account. Besides, his polling it at the end of the year is an evidence against his being a perpetual Nazarite. The rabbies, indeed, have framed a rule for the perpetual Nazarites, on purpose not to exclude Absalom; affirming, that when their hair grew very heavy and troublesome, they were allowed to cut it to the length in which it was ordinarily worn by other people, but not to shave it quite off; and this, they say, was the reason of Absalom's polling his head every year, because his hair grew so exceeding heavy, that what he cut off, weighed "two hundred shekels after the king's weight*." We shall not stay to dispute this point with the rabbies, because it is of no great consequence. But the amazing weight of Absalom's hair demands our particular attention. Dr. Cumberland, in his Essay on Jewish Weights and Measures, shows, that a Jewish shekel of silver was equal to half an ounce avoirdupoise. Consequently, two hundred shekels is six pounds and a quarter; an incredible weight for the hair of one man's head! Various are the conjectures of the learned in order to remove this difficulty. Some suppose the shekel here spoken of was less than the common shekel; and they observe his hair is said to weigh "two hundred shekels after the king's weight," not according to the common shekel of the sanctuary. Now, should we suppose the shekel here meant to be a weight in gold equal to the value of the silver shekel, or half ounce, that would reduce the weight of the hair to about five ounces. Others imagine there has been an error in transcribing the Hebrew copy; that the number of shekels being expressed by the numeral letter caph, which stands for twenty, the transcriber mistook it for resh, which stands for two hundred; a mistake, which might easily be made, if the lower part of the caph was not very plain. Others again are of opinion, that the two hundred shekels denote, not the weight but the value of the hair; the Jewish women having been used to purchase it to adorn themselves. Vid. R. de Bartenor. ; et Maimon. Comment. in Mishn. tit. Nazir. cap. i, sect. ii, tom. iii, p. 148, edit. Surenhus. It cannot, indeed, be easily supposed, that the king's son sold his hair. But the verb nakal, rendered "he weighed," may be taken impersonal *, to signify, it was weighed at the rate of two hundred she. els, perhaps by the barber, whose perquisite it might be. Where we cannot arrive at certainty, we must be content with probability; and, I apprehend, either of these conjectures is sufficiently probable to relieve the difficulty in the text. We return to the Nazarites: I have only further to observe concerning the Nazarai nativi, that they were not bound to the same strictness as the votivi, who must not touch any dead carcass, nor so much as enter the doors of a house where a deceased person was. Samson, who was a Nazaræus nativus, made no scruple of taking honey out of the carcass of a lion, Judg. xiv, 8, 9; and Samuel hewed Agag in pieces, 1 Sam. xv, 33. As for the Nazarei votivi, who bound themselves by a vow to observe the law of the Nazarites for a certain time, suppose a month (the rabbies say it could not be for a less time, though it might be for a longer†), their laws, which are contained in the sixth chapter of the book of Numbers, are these: : 1st, That they should abstain from wine, and from all inebriating liquors, and even from eating grapes, during the time of their separation, Numb. vi, 3, 4. 2dly, That they should let their hair grow without cutting it till the days of their vow were fulfilled, ver. 5; and then they were to have their hair shaved off at the door of the tabernacle, and burnt under the altar, ver. 18. It was probably from this custom of the Jewish Nazarites, that the Gentiles learnt the practice of consecrating their hair to their gods, of which Suetonius relates an instance in his life of Nero; informing us, that he cut off his first beard, and put it * See many instances of this sort produced by Glassius, Philolog. Sacra, lib. iii, tract. iii, de Verbo, canon xxiii, p. 380, 381, edit. Amstel. 1711. + Mishn. tit. Nazir, cap. i, sect. iii, p. 148, tom. iii, edit. Surenhus. Lucian represents this as a very common custom, with which he bimself had complied, de Syriâ Dea, sub fin. into a golden box set with jowls, and consecrated it to Jupiter Capitolinus*. When a Nazaræus votivus was polluted by touching any dead body, he was to "shave his head on the seventh day," that is, at the end of the time during which he was unclean, and "on the eighth day to offer a sin offering and a burnt offering for his purification;" and then to "consecrate unto the Lord the days of his separation," bringing a "lamb of the first year for a trespass offering:" that is, he was to begin again the accomplishment of his vow, "the days which were before having been lost, because his separation was defiled," Numb. vi, 9-12. The Nazarite's shaving his head in case of pollution is not ordered to be done, as in case of the accomplishment of his vow at the temple; but might be done anywhere, it seems, in the country, provided it was not so far distant as to prevent his offering the accustomed sacrifices at the temple the next day. However, some learned men have thought, that those, who were at a great distance, or in foreign countries, might have their head shaved in the place where they were, and offer the appointed sacrifice at the temple the next opportunity, whether on account of accidental pollution, or at the accomplishment of their vow†. Thus they say Paul (according to others, Aquila) did, Acts xviii, 18, who made his vow at Corinth, shaved his head at Cenchrea, and went soon afterward to Jerusalem to accomplish it by the usual offering §. 3dly, A Nazarite must not come near any dead body, while the vow was upon him, Numb. vi, 6. It is to be observed, that women, as well as men, might * Sueton. in Vit. Neronis, cap. xii, 11, p. 176, 177, tom. ii, edit. Pitisci, Traject. ad Rhen. 1690. + Steph. Morin. dissert. viii, p. 103; Grotius, iu Acts xviii, 18; Ancient Universal History, in the History of the Jews, book i, chap. vii. ↑ Witsii Meletem. de Vitâ Pauli, sect. vii, sect. xiii, p. 100, et xv, ad fin. p. 102; Grotius in loc. § Concerning St. Paul's vow, see Doddridge in loc.; Lardner's Credibi. vol. i, book i, chap. ix, sect. vii; Benson's History of Planting the Christian Religion, vol. ii, chap. v, sect. xiii, and chap. viii, sect. 11; Hammond in loc.; Wolfi Curæ Philolog. in loc.; and Meinhard de Pauli Nasiræatu, apud Thesaur. Philolog. Theolog tom. ii, p. 473, especially cap. iv, Am stel. 1702. U |