Numbers 6:18

18 At the entrance of the Tent you nazirites shall shave off your hair and put it on the fire on which the fellowship offering is being burned.

Numbers 6:18 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 6:18

And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation, [at]
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation
The Targum of Jonathan is,

``and the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation without,''

without the tabernacle, the door of it, where the people assembled together; so that this was to be done publicly, that it might be known of all, and no offence taken at the Nazarite's drinking wine, and concerning himself for the dead, and attending funerals, for by this action it was known that his Nazariteship was at an end; and whereas the hair of the Nazarite was consecrated to the Lord by his vow, and this vow being punctually fulfilled, it was sacred, and to be presented to the Lord, and to be of no use and service to himself or others, and therefore to be all clean shaven off; for, as Maimonides F26 says, if two hairs only were left, nothing was done, and the command of shaving not kept:

and shall take the hair of the head of his separation;
being cut off and shaved;

and put [it] in the fire which [is] under the sacrifice of the peace
offerings;
under the pot or cauldron, as the Targum of Jonathan, in which the ram for the peace offerings was boiled: this was done in the court of the women in later times, at the southeast of which was a chamber called the chamber of the Nazarites, where they bailed their peace offerings, and shaved their hair and cast it under the pot F1; and this might not be put, as before observed, to any other use; if any of it was made use of in a sack that was made of hair cloth, we are told F2 that sack was to be burnt.


FOOTNOTES:

F26 Hilchot Nezirut, c. 8. sect. 6.
F1 Misn. Middoth, c. 2. sect. 5. T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 16. 1.
F2 Misn. Orlah, c. 3. sect. 3.

Numbers 6:18 In-Context

16 The priest shall present all these to the Lord and offer the sin offering and the burnt offering.
17 He shall sacrifice the ram to the Lord as a fellowship offering, and offer it with the basket of bread; he shall also present the offerings of grain and wine.
18 At the entrance of the Tent you nazirites shall shave off your hair and put it on the fire on which the fellowship offering is being burned.
19 Then, when the shoulder of the ram is boiled, the priest shall take it and put it, together with one thick loaf of bread and one thin cake from the basket, into the hands of the nazirite.
20 Next, the priest shall present them as a special gift to the Lord; they are a sacred offering for the priest, in addition to the breast and the leg of the ram which by law belong to the priest. After that, the nazirite may drink wine.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.