All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins.
Parallel Translations
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All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins.
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All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.
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All the days of his Naziriteship shall he eat nothing that is made of the grape-vine, from the pressed grapes even to the grapestone.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Commandments (2)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Numbers 6:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 6:5 “ ‘All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall come on his head, until the days are fulfilled in which he separates himself to Yahweh. He shall be holy. He shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long.
- Numbers 6:8-9 All the days of his separation he is holy to Yahweh. “ ‘If any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles the head of his separation, then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing. On the seventh day he shall shave it.
- Numbers 6:12-13 He shall separate to Yahweh the days of his separation, and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a trespass offering; but the former days shall be void, because his separation was defiled. “ ‘This is the law of the Nazirite: when the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the Tent of Meeting,
- Numbers 6:18-19 The Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the Tent of Meeting, take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved the head of his separation;
- Numbers 6:21 “ ‘This is the law of the Nazirite who vows and of his offering to Yahweh for his separation, in addition to that which he is able to afford. According to his vow which he vows, so he must do after the law of his separation.’ ”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Num 6:4 All the days of his separation shall…
Num 6:4 All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.
Ver. 4. From the kernels even to the tusk.] Nothing that might occasion, or tempt him to break his vow. All shadows and shows of evil must be shunned: Quicquid fuerit male coloratum, as Bernard hath it; whatsoever looks but ill-favoured. {1Th 5:22 Jdg 1:23} He that would not eat the meat, must not meddle with the broth. He that would not toll the bell, must not tuggle with the rope. He that would shun the blow, must keep aloof from the train.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The days were sometimes more, sometimes fewer, as he…
The days were sometimes more, sometimes fewer, as he thought fit to appoint.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain All the days of his separation shall he eat…
All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree,.... Of its leaves, branches, and fruit, especially the latter, put into any sort of food, or infused into any liquor, or mixed with any sauce for food: the days or time of separation were according as the vow was made, for a shorter or longer time; though the Jews (t) say, where the vow is, absolutely expressed, it is always to be understood of thirty days, during which time the Nazarite was not to eat or drink of any composition that had anything the vine in it:
from the kernels even to the husk; the Jews (u) are divided about the two words here used, which of them signifies the outermost part of the grape, and which the innermost; Ben Gersom agrees with us, but it matters not much who are in the right, since both are forbidden: by this part of the law, the people of God, who are spiritual Nazarites, are taught to live temperately and soberly, and to abstain from all appearance of sin: it is pretty remarkable what the Jews (w) say, that when the son of David comes, it will be free for a Nazarite to drink wine on sabbath days and festivals, though not on week days; from whence it appears, they seem to be conscious of a change of the ceremonial law in his days.
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(t) Misn. Nazir, c. 1. sect. 3. & c. 6. sect. 3. (u) Misn. Nazir, c. 6. sect. 2. Aben Ezra in loc. (w) T. Bab. Erubin, fol. 43. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain All the days of his separation - Which were…
All the days of his separation - Which were sometimes more, sometimes fewer, as he thought fit to appoint.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Num 6:4. All the days of his separation —…
Num 6:4. All the days of his separation — Some were perpetual Nazarites, being peculiarly devoted to God from the womb, as Samson and John the Baptist. But Moses here speaks of such as made themselves Nazarites only for a time, which might be longer or shorter, as they thought fit to appoint.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Kernel, or stone. Neither the inside nor the outside…
Kernel, or stone. Neither the inside nor the outside must be eaten.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. Kernels — Grape-stones.
4. Kernels — Grape-stones.
Husk — The cuticle or skin.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 4. nothing that is produced by the grape-vine] R.V.…
4. nothing that is produced by the grape-vine] R.V. ‘made of the grape-vine,’ though a literal rendering of the Hebrew, is misleading. The meaning is evidently that of Jdg_13:14 ‘nothing that cometh forth (יצא) from the grape-vine.’ This meaning of עשה ‘to make,’ or ‘produce,’ in the course of nature is found with some frequency; e.g. Gen_1:11 f., Gen_41:47, Isa_5:2; Isa_5:4; Isa_5:10.
from the kernels even to the husk] The Heb. idiom ‘from … to …’ frequently represents the English ‘either … or …’ or ‘neither … nor …’ Cf. Gen_14:23, lit. ‘from a thread to a shoe-latchet’; Gen_31:24; Gen_31:29 ‘from good to bad.’
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The words rendered ‘kernels’ (ḥarẓannîm) and ‘husk’ (zâg) are not found elsewhere in the O.T. and their meaning is uncertain.
It is not very natural to speak of the kernels (i.e. the stones or pips) and the husk (i.e. the skin) of the grape as produced by the vine. But no better rendering of the words has been proposed. The general sense, however, is clear. The eating of any sort of grape product is prohibited, even the most trifling or unpalatable parts of the produce of the vine.
The custom of abstaining from wine and intoxicants may have arisen in a remote past from a primitive belief that the spirit or numen of the vine entered into a man when he drank (see Frazer, Golden Bough, i. 359 f.); or, as Jer_35:6 f. suggests in the case of the Rechabites, it arose from a desire to conform closely to ancient nomadic habits after the nation as a whole had become an agricultural community (W. R. Smith, Prophets of Israel, 84 f.). Whatever the origin may have been, the Naziriteship had, in prophetic times, a valuable moral significance as a protest against luxury and sensuality. See Driver on Amo_2:11.
Again, the prohibition of wine is distinct from that of all intoxicants1 [Note: On intoxicants other than wine see Hastings’ DB. ii. 33b.] . The former is probably the more primitive. And the form of the regulations found here may very possibly have been the result of the fusion of ancient practices which were at one time unconnected, and not all observed by earlier Nazirites.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4) From the kernels even to the husk.—The word…
(4) From the kernels even to the husk.—The word which is rendered kenels is supposed by some to denote sour grapes, and by others the kernels of berries. The word zag denotes the shell or husk.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain From the kernels oven to the husk, or skin.…
From the kernels oven to the husk, or skin. Of grape-skins it is said that cakes were made which were considered a delicacy, (Hos_3:1, mistranslated "flagons of wine but this is doubtful. The Septuagint has oinon amo stemfolwn ewv gigartou , "wine of grape-skins (the liquor of grapes mentioned before) even to the kernel." The expression is best understood as including anything and everything, however unlikely to be used, connected with the grape. It is clear that the abstinence of the Nazirite extended beyond what might possibly intoxicate to what was simply pleasant to the taste, like raisins, or refreshing, like charnels. The vine represented, by an easy parable, the tree of carnal delights, which yields to the appetite of men such a variety of satisfactions. So among the Romans the Flamen Dialis might not even touch a vine.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.