April 13, 2007

Breadcrumb: What for?

Num. 6:1-32 describes the various requirements of Nazarites, or Hebrew ascetics. In summary, they must abstain from drinking wine and eating grapes, cutting their hair, and being near graveyards or the dead. You would think that with this sort of a vow, there would be some powerful rewards as an accompaniment. However, the text only states, "All the days of his separation he is holy unto the LORD." (Num. 6:8, KJV) I have no idea what this means, and I'm fairly certain the ancient Israelites didn't either. On the other hand, more holiness is better than less holiness, so there were probably some people who took the vows anyway, just to be on the safe side.

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