Section 22 of 1476:13–21Numbers

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King James VersionNumbers 6:13–21

And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:

And he shall offer his offering unto the LORD, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings,

And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings.

And the priest shall bring them before the LORD, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering:

And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his meat offering, and his drink offering.

And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings.

And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after the hair of his separation is shaven:

And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder: and after that the Nazarite may drink wine.

This is the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed, and of his offering unto the LORD for his separation, beside that that his hand shall get: according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation.

Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.

Scripture text: King James Version, Standardized 1769 text. Public domain in the United States.About this Bible text

Numbers 6:13–21

Completed Nazirite Separation Returns to Ordinary Life

Completion is public, then ordinary life is allowed again

When the days of separation are fulfilled, the Nazirite is brought to the door of the tent of meeting with a male lamb for a burnt offering, a ewe lamb for a sin offering, a ram for peace offerings, a basket of unleavened bread, cakes, wafers, meat offering, and drink offerings. The priest offers them. The Nazirite shaves the consecrated head at the door, and the hair is put in the fire under the peace offering.

After the wave breast and heave shoulder, the Nazirite may drink wine. The rite does not freeze the person in permanent specialness. It closes the period and returns them to ordinary food and ordinary appearance.

An expensive ending is not a purchase of favor

The law of the Nazirite includes whatever else the person vowed beyond the stated minimum. Generosity at the end is possible. It is not a ladder of holiness, and it is not a warrant for leaders to demand costly ceremonies from people who cannot bear them.

Shaving and burning the hair make the period visibly over. Completing a vow is obedience to a promise, not a receipt that God now owes success.

How this should shape us

Let a finished commitment actually finish. Mark it without turning the closing ritual into a fee, a status badge, or a demand on the poor. Return to ordinary life is part of the faithfulness, not a drop in rank.

Teach it back

Explain Numbers 6:13–21 in your own words. Include its place in Numbers' movement from Sinai to Moab, both movements within this thought unit, one material uncertainty, one affected person or group, and one use the complete context rules out.

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Go deeper

The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.

Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties

Where do careful interpreters disagree?

Best judgment: Interpreters disagree about vow types, the relationship of Numbers 6 and 30, adult agency, household authority, historical practice, and later legal reception. The text's male privilege should not be hidden by calling every arrangement protection. For “Completed Nazirite Separation Returns to Ordinary Life,” confidence is strongest in the received unit's stated sequence and literary function; source, date, demography, geography, mechanism, archaeology, and historical reconstruction remain probable, plausible, or uncertain as the evidence warrants.

How certain? probable

Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.

Numbers 6:13–21, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Numbers

Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, numbers, speeches, poems, legal clauses, older-English controls, and translation limits.

Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Num.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 6:13–21

NET Bible: Numbers with translators' notes

Supports: Unit-bounded translation, syntax, lexical, ritual, legal, number, name, poetic, and selected textual notes; silence is not evidence.

NET Bible Numbers PDF, complete 134-page PDF, translation and translator notes attached to 6:13–21

Numbers Part 1

Supports: Final-form movement, wilderness setting, census and camp, complaint, leadership, composition, and ethical framing.

Yale Bible Study, Numbers Part 1, complete study guide sections “Introduction,” “At Sinai (1:1–10:10),” “From Sinai to Moab (10:11–22:1),” and “Composition,” applied to Numbers 6:13–21

Can a Husband Annul His Wife's Nazirite Vow?

Supports: Vow types, Nazirite relation, patriarchal authority, agency, and limits on modern household control.

TheTorah, “Can a Husband Annul His Wife's Nazirite Vow?,” complete comparison of Numbers 6 and 30, household authority, women, annulment, and later interpretation, applied to Numbers 6:13–21

Sources for This Section

These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.

Exact location: Numbers 6:13–21, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus

Open source ↗

hebrew text and morphology

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Numbers

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project

Open Scriptures, release 2.2, 2021

Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, numbers, speeches, poems, legal clauses, older-English controls, and translation limits.

Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Num.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 6:13–21

Open source ↗

translation and translator notes

NET Bible: Numbers with translators' notes

Biblical Studies Press

eBible.org distribution of the NET Bible, source files dated 2026-08-08

Supports: Unit-bounded translation, syntax, lexical, ritual, legal, number, name, poetic, and selected textual notes; silence is not evidence.

Exact location: NET Bible Numbers PDF, complete 134-page PDF, translation and translator notes attached to 6:13–21

Open source ↗

modern critical open study guide

Numbers Part 1

Yale Bible Study

Yale Divinity School, 2023 course edition

Supports: Final-form movement, wilderness setting, census and camp, complaint, leadership, composition, and ethical framing.

Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Numbers Part 1, complete study guide sections “Introduction,” “At Sinai (1:1–10:10),” “From Sinai to Moab (10:11–22:1),” and “Composition,” applied to Numbers 6:13–21

Open source ↗

modern jewish scholarly open gender and legal study

Can a Husband Annul His Wife's Nazirite Vow?

Francis Landy

TheTorah.com, 2018

Supports: Vow types, Nazirite relation, patriarchal authority, agency, and limits on modern household control.

Exact location: TheTorah, “Can a Husband Annul His Wife's Nazirite Vow?,” complete comparison of Numbers 6 and 30, household authority, women, annulment, and later interpretation, applied to Numbers 6:13–21

Open source ↗

Numbers 6:13–21, King James Version

Completion is public, then ordinary life is allowed again

An expensive ending is not a purchase of favor

How this should shape us

Teach it back

Go deeper

Where do careful interpreters disagree?

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Numbers

NET Bible: Numbers with translators' notes

Numbers Part 1

Can a Husband Annul His Wife's Nazirite Vow?