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What Does “Nazir” Mean?
The word nazir means to “separate,” which makes perfect sense considering that the nazir separates himself from worldly pleasures and the trivial pursuits of society.1 At the same time, the same Hebrew letters can also be read as neizer, which means “crown.” Indeed this is alluded to in scripture itself, which states that he may not come in contact with the dead for the “nezer [crown] of his G‑d is upon his head.”2
The laws of the nazir are recorded in the Talmudic tractate Nazir and codified by Maimonides in the Laws of Nezirut.
Famous Nazirites
Samson was a mighty Jewish leader who waged wars against the Philistines, the Jews’ arch-enemies. Before he was born, an angel of G‑d told his parents that they would have a special child and should let his hair grow; his superhuman strength derived from his long hair. His mother was also cautioned not to drink wine or eat anything that was impure during her pregnancy. Ultimately Samson’s wife, Delilah, betrayed his secret to the Philistines and they managed to overcome him. Samson died in a building full of Philistines, but not before he managed to crumble the entire building.
Samuel, the great prophet and leader of the Jewish people, was a nazirite from birth. His mother, Chanah, had not initially been blessed with children and prayed with all her heart at the Tabernacle that she give birth to a son, saying, “If You will give Your bondswoman a man-child, and I shall give him to the L‑rd all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.” Samuel went on to lead the people of Israel for the rest of his life, appointing King Saul and then King David to lead after him.
Royals and commoners
Maimonides3 states: “Our sages directed man to abstain only from those things which the Torah denies him and not to forbid himself permitted things by vows and oaths. Thus our sages4 rhetorically asked: ‘Are not the things which the Torah has prohibited sufficient for you? [Why] must you add further prohibitions?’ ”
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/287358/jewish/The-Nazir-and-the-Nazirite-Vow.htm