Numbers 6:7

He must not defile himself even ¹  for his father or his mother or his brother or his sister if they die, ²  because the separation ³  for ⁴  his God is on his head.

Le 21:1,2,10-12; Nu 9:6; Eze 44:25

¹ tn The vav (ו) conjunction at the beginning of the clause specifies the cases of corpses that are to be avoided, no matter how painful it might be.

² tn The construction uses the infinitive construct with the preposition and the suffixed subjective genitive – “in the dying of them” – to form the adverbial clause of time.

sn The Nazirite would defile himself, i.e., ruin his vow, by contacting their corpses. Jesus’ hard saying in Matt 8:22, “let the dead bury their own dead,” makes sense in the light of this passage – Jesus was calling for commitment to himself.

³ tn The word “separation” here is metonymy of adjunct – what is on his head is long hair that goes with the vow.

⁴ tn The genitive could perhaps be interpreted as possession, i.e., “the vow of his God,” but it seems more likely that an objective genitive would be more to the point.