NAZIRITE. - The profession of "nazirite" (Heb. nāzīr, from nāzar, in the passive "to set oneself apart" and "to abstain"), translated ναζιραῖος and nazaraeus (under the influence of "Nazareth," from Mt. 2:23).
It consisted in the practice of a vow (Heb. nedher, from the Proto-Semitic root ndr, from which nāzīr also derives) of abstinence, for a religious reason (cf. the full expression "nazirite of [consecrated to] God": Judg. 13:5, 7; 16:17; Eccl. 6:13 [Heb.]) and from alcoholic drink (including grapes themselves: Num. 6:3); from the cutting of the hair, considered a refinement; moreover the nazirite had to avoid with particular care ritual impurities, especially contact with a corpse.
The vow could be perpetual, as seems to be the case with Samson (Judg. 13:5, 7), Samuel (1 Sam. 1:11; cf. Eccl. 46:13) and in New Testament times John the Baptist (Lk. 1:15) and James, the first bishop of Jerusalem (Eusebius, Hist. eccl., II, 23, 4 ff.), or temporary (in late times the minimum was 30 days: Flavius Josephus, Bell. Iud., II, 15, 1). This latter case is regulated by the law of Num. 6, in which the abstinences recalled above are prescribed (cf. also Am. 2:11-12) and the rites are indicated (always considered a solemn cultic manifestation: cf. 1 Macc. 3:49) on the occasion of the completion of the time of the vow (Am. 2:13 ff.).
Women could also be nazirites (Num. 6:2), with limitations (Num. 30:4-6), as is the case with Berenice, sister of King Agrippa (Fl. Josephus, Bell. Iud., II, 15, 1).
Nazaraeus in the Vulgate (Heb. názir) is also found in Gen. 49:26; Deut. 33:16 (of Joseph), where it means "prince," or "chosen one," and in Mt. 8:23 (Greek Ναζωραῖος), said of Jesus, in this last case explained variously (Zolli: "the preacher"), but perhaps equivalent only to "Nazarene," with an allusion to the messianic epithet (Is. 11:1) néser "shoot," in reference to the humble origin and life of the Messiah.
Bibliography
Giovanni Rinaldi