Then the LORD said to Moses,  “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. “If any of the people, either men or women, take the special vow of a Nazirite, setting themselves apart to the LORD in a special way…”

Numbers 6:1-2

May the LORD bless you 
   and protect you.
May the LORD smile on you 
   and be gracious to you.
May the LORD show you his favor 
  and give you his peace.
Numbers 6:24-26

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• The practice of vows and separating oneself for consecration for religious purposes was an ancient practice that other nations participated in as well. There is an ancient (9th century B.C.) Phoenician inscription that depicts how shaven hair was dedicated to fulfill a vow made to the goddess Astarte. 
• In the biblical text, uncut hair is being dedicated, and is “the symbol of his separation to God” (Numbers 6:7). It was only cut (shaved) if the person came in contact with a dead body.
• In ancient thinking, there was shame attached to loss of hair. Hair (and blood) was a representation of a person’s life essence.
  Now Absalom was praised as the most handsome man in all Israel. He was flawless from head to foot. He cut his hair only once a year, and then only because it was so heavy. When he weighed it out, it came to five pounds!
  2 Samuel 14:25-26
• Naziritism could be temporary, or perpetual (Samson, Samuel, John the Baptist).
• The minimum period for a Nazirite vow was 30 days.
• Women and slaves could only take vows if it was sanctioned by their husband or master. They were not free to initiate a vow on their own. 
• A series of offerings concluded the vow, as well as shaving the head and burning the hair in the same fire that was burning for the fellowship offering.
• In Matthew 5, Jesus says to simply give a yes or no instead of swearing by something or someone to make an oath. People were swearing by all sorts of things other than God to testify that what they said was true. They thought if they broke their oath sworn by other things or people, not God, it wasn’t as binding. Jesus was saying to have integrity, and that it was about the heart. “Everything by which one could swear is ultimately God’s.” IVP Bible Background Commentary

*Correction: I meant to say rabbis instead of Levite priests.

Live a committed life from the heart.