6:5 “‘All the days of the vow 1 of his separation no razor may be used on his head 2 until the time 3 is fulfilled for which he separated himself to the Lord. He will be holy, 4 and he must let 5 the locks of hair on his head grow long.
6:21 “This is the law 6 of the Nazirite who vows to the Lord his offering according to his separation, as well as whatever else he can provide. 7 Thus he must fulfill 8 his vow that he makes, according to the law of his separation.”
1 tc The parallel expression in v. 8 (“all the days of his separation”) lacks the word “vow.” This word is also absent in v. 5 in a few medieval Hebrew manuscripts. The presence of the word in v. 5 may be due to dittography.
2 sn There is an interesting parallel between this prohibition and the planting of trees. They could not be pruned or trimmed for three years, but allowed to grow free (Lev 20:23). Only then could the tree be cut and the fruit eaten. The natural condition was to be a sign that it was the
3 tn Heb “days.”
4 tn The word “holy” here has the sense of distinct, different, set apart.
5 tn The Piel infinitive absolute functions as a verb in this passage; the Piel carries the sense of “grow lengthy” or “let grow long.”
6 tn Actually, “law” here means a whole set of laws, the basic rulings on this topic.
7 tn Heb “whatever else his hand is able to provide.” The imperfect tense has the nuance of potential imperfect – “whatever he can provide.”
8 tn Heb “according to the vow that he vows, so he must do.”