Expert: Dr. Ronald E. Shultz - 5/14/2005

Question
I know that Jesus was a Nazarene beinf from Nzareth, At teh church i attend there is some discussion of whether Jesus was a Nazarite?

Answer
Num 6:1-27 - Nazarite law

Judg 13:1-5 (Samson)
1 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.
2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.
3 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no rasor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. (KJV)

Matt 2:23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene. (KJV)

Matthew 2:19-23  PP10
  In this is said to be fulfilled what was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene. Which may be looked upon,
  (1.) As a man of honour and dignity, though primarily it signifies no more than a man of Nazareth; there is an allusion or mystery in speaking it, speaking Christ to be,
  [1.] The Man, the Branch, spoken of, <Isa. 11:1>. The word there is Netzar, which signifies either a branch, or the city of Nazareth; in being denominated from that city, he is declared to be that Branch.
  [2.] it speaks him to be the great Nazarite; of whom the legal Nazarites were a type and figure (especially Samson, <Judg. 13:5>), and Joseph, who is called a Nazarite among his brethren <Gen. 49:26>, and to whom that which was prescribed concerning the Nazarites, has reference, <Num. 6:2>, etc. Not that Christ was, strictly, a Nazarite, for he drank wine, and touched dead bodies; but he was eminently so, both as he was singularly holy, and as he was by a solemn designation and dedication set apart to the honour of God in the work of our redemption, as Samson was to save Israel. And it is a name we have all reason to rejoice in, and to know him by. Or,
  (2.) As a name of reproach and contempt. To be called a Nazarene, was to be called a despicable man, a man from whom no good was to be expected, and to whom no respect was to be paid. The devil first fastened this name upon Christ, to render him mean, and prejudice people against him, and it stuck as a nickname to him and his followers. Now this was not particularly foretold by any one prophet, but, in general, it was spoken by the prophets, that he should be despised and rejected of men <Isa. 53:2-3>, a Worm, and no man <Ps. 22:6-7>, that he should be an Alien to his brethren <Ps. 69:7-8>. Let no name of reproach for religion's sake seem hard to us, when our Master was himself called a Nazarene.
(from Matthew Henry's Commentary)

While I admire Dr. Henry, I would have to say that Jesus was not a Nazarite because if He would have been a Nazarite by vow he would not have drank wine or touched the dead or even took any of the vinegar given Him at the Cross as that would have broken His vow.  Though He would not have been defiled by the activities because He is God the vow would have been broken and He would never break a vow expecially if He imposed it upon Himself. (2 Cor 1:20)

Note also, that a Nazarite did not shave His head until He has completed His vow.  If He would have been known as a Nazarite by vow not only would have the wine and touching the dead issues been cast in His teeth by the Pharisees to disprove His claim of being God but they would have asked why He had not fulfilled His vow to God due to His hair being so long if He did not cut it for at least three years.  

Contrary to modern art Christ was not a blond, blue-eyed hippy.  Romans/Gentiles cropped their hair much like what we consider a Conservative hair cut today.  Made it easier to put on a helmet and did not give the enemy anything to grab.  Jewish tradition of the time said that if a man showed his ears he was vain.  Thus the average hair length of a Jew was most likely just past the bottom of the ear to avoid being vain, but it would not have been long and flowing like the pictures we have today.  

A long haired man would have looked like a woman going through the ritual to determine if she had committed adultery or would have been considered a male prostitute by some. In any event the long hair would have been a shame and a target for ridicule. (Numbers 5:12-31; 1 Cor 11) Such ridicule is not seen in Scripture.

Rev 9:7-8
7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. (KJV)

Jesus certainly had a beard, the face of a man, but he would not have had the hair of a woman.  God created male and female and does not condone androgny. That is the venue of demons and homosexuality.

We know how long was long in those days.(John 12:3) We also know that men are to have short hair so there is a difference between the genders in even a simple thing like hair. (1 Cor 11)  Thus the pictures that show our Lord as effeminate or even demon like are an abomination.  I suspect that this is part of the reason God commanded that no images of God to be created. We would just create an image that appeals to us.  Jesus looked like an average Jew.(Isa 53:2)

He was the Branch that God chose and He was mocked and He suffered reproach like a person from Nazareth, but I do not believe He was living under a Nazaritic vow though He was separated unto God not just from birth but from eternity past because He is God.  He did not have to take a vow as His character and essence were holy.

I hope this has been of some help to you.  May God richly bless you as study His Word and seek His will.

Bro. Ron
www.mavmin.org