NAZIRITE. — The profession of a "nazir" (Heb. *nazir*, from *nazar*, in the passive "to separate oneself" and "to consecrate"), translated ναζιραίος 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 *nadzir* also derives) of abstinence for religious reasons (cf. the full expression "nazirite of [vowed to] God": *Judg.* 13:5-7; 16:17; *Sir.* 6:13 [Heb.]) from alcoholic beverages (including even grapes: *Num.* 6:3); from cutting the hair, considered a refinement; furthermore, the nazirite had to particularly avoid 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. *Sir.* 46:13), and in the New Testament era John the Baptist (*Lk.* 1:15) and James, the first bishop of Jerusalem (Eusebius, *Hist. eccl.* II, 23, 4 ff.), or temporary (in later times the minimum was 30 days: Flavius Josephus, *Bell. Jud.* II, 15, 1). The latter case is regulated by the law in *Num.* 6, which prescribes the abstinences mentioned above (cf. also *Am.* 2:11-12) and indicates the rites (always considered solemn cultic manifestations: cf. *1 Macc.* 3:49) upon the completion of the vow's time (*Am.* 2:13 ff.).
Women could also be nazirites (*Num.* 6:2),
with limitations (*Num.* 30:4-6), as in the case of Bernice, sister of King Agrippa (Flavius Josephus, *Bell. Jud.* II, 15, 1).
*Nazaraeus* in the Vulgate (Heb. *nāzīr*) is also found in Gen. 49:26; Deut. 33:16 (of Joseph), where it means "prince" or "chosen one," and in Mt. 2:23 (Greek Ναζωραῖος), said of Jesus, in the latter case variously explained (Zolli: "the preacher"), but perhaps equivalent only to "Nazarene," with an allusion to the messianic epithet (Is. 11:1) *nēser* "shoot," in reference to the humble origin and life of the Messiah.