Numbers 6:7

Summary

Numbers 6:7 continues the Nazirite regulations, specifying that a Nazirite must not defile himself even through contact with the corpse of his father, mother, brother, or sister. The reason given is that the "nezer" ("Nazirite vow/consecration", H5145G) of his God rests upon his head.

Key words

• yitamma ("he will make himself unclean", H2930A) — Hithpael imperfect, a reflexive stem indicating the subject actively causes his own defilement (not simply "becomes" unclean by accident), with imperfect aspect expressing a general/future prohibition.
• nezer ("[the] Nazirite vow of", H5145G) — masculine singular construct, linking directly to 'elohav ("his God"); the construct chain "nezer of his God" ties the vow's authority to the deity rather than to the individual's own choice.
• 'elohav ("God", H0430G) — masculine plural construct with 3ms suffix "his"; though morphologically plural, it functions as a singular referent ("his God"), a common pattern for this noun.
• lahem ("for them", H9038) — preposition with 3mp pronominal suffix, referring back collectively to the four relatives just listed (father, mother, brother, sister).
• be-motam ("by their death", H4194 + H9028) — preposition + construct noun with 3mp suffix, specifying that the prohibition applies at the moment/occasion of their death.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence lists four relatives in construct chains — 'aviv ("his father"), 'immo ("his mother"), 'achiv ("his brother"), 'achoto ("his sister") — each introduced by the preposition le ("for"/"regarding"). This construction sets up the scope of the prohibition before the verb yitamma' appears. The negation lo' ("not", H3808) precedes the Hithpael verb, which grammatically emphasizes self-caused defilement rather than passive contamination. The phrase lahem be-motam ("for them, by their death") clarifies that the restriction applies specifically at the time of death, not to any other circumstance.

The causal clause introduced by ki ("for"/"that", H3588A) explains the rationale: nezer 'elohav 'al ro'sho — "the Nazirite-consecration of his God [is] on his head." The construct chain nezer 'elohav places the vow in direct relation to the deity, and the closing phrase 'al ro'sho ("on his head") physically locates this consecrated status, echoing the visible marker (unshorn hair) discussed elsewhere in the chapter.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders nezer ("Nazirite vow/consecration") as euchē ("vow"), a more generic term than the Hebrew's specific nezer, which in this context carries the technical sense of Nazirite consecration. The Vulgate uses consecratio ("consecration"), which is closer to the ceremonial nuance of nezer than the LXX's broader "vow." The LXX also renders lahem ("for them") with ou mian thēsetai ("he will not set/place one"), a phrasing that diverges syntactically from the Hebrew's simple prepositional construction with lahem.