כי יפלא, this is one of the words which occur in different contexts, having opposite meanings, such as “building” or “demolishing.” For instance, we find the phrase (Deut. 17,8) כי יפלא ממך דבר, where it means: “if something is too baffling for you, etc;” (the reference is to litigation between two parties) In our situation, our sages presume that the subject of the vow of Nazirite was not inserted here haphazardly, but that it teaches a valuable lesson in how to preserve one’s sin-free status. Our sages surmise that the reason that this subject follows on the heels of that of the wayward wife, is that man falling victim to sinning is related to imbibing too much wine, something that loosens not only one’s tongue, but also other restraints that would have served as protection against committing certain sins. [The reader may recall that Lot having been given too much wine by his daughters, resulted in the first instance of incest, so that the founder of the people of Moav’s founding father was at the same time also his grandfather through his mother. Eventually, 24000 Israelites were killed by a plague for having made an obeisance to a Moabite idol, Baal-Peor, after having drunk too much wine and slept with Moabite women who had been told by Bileam to find a way to seduce them. Ed.] According to our author, a woman who has not coiffed her hair properly is not in demand for sexual intercourse. (Based on Ibn Ezra)

נדר נדר להזיר, “has uttered a vow to become a Nazirite.” The reason why the Torah chose such a cumbersome way of saying this is that it wanted to incorporate the three main aspects of the Nazirite’s vow: abstention from wine, etc; not shaving his hair, and avoiding contact with ritual impurity.

גדל פרע, “the locks (of hair) growing wildly;” these are two words meaning almost the same, just as in Daniel 12,2: אדמת עפר, “dusty earth;”, “dusty earth

על נפש מת, “near a dead body;” the word על is used in the sense of אצל, “next to.” Examples of such uses are found in Exodus 40,3: וסכות על הארון את הפרוכת, “you shall screen the Ark with the veil next to it.” Compare also Genesis24,30,והוא עומד על הגמלים, “while he was standing next to the camels.”

לא יטמא להם, “he must not defile himself on their account.” The addition of the word: להם on their account, means that he may or even should defile himself in order to bury a corpse who has no one else to attend to his being buried. (Talmud tractate Megillah folio 3.)

במותם, “on account of their death;” however, he is not forbidden to become defiled through contact with living human beings afflicted with involuntary emissions from their sexual organs. (Sifri) [How could he be aware of their condition? Ed.]

וכי ימות מת עליו, “and if someone dies suddenly beside him;” here the meaning of the word עליו is not “on him,” or “upon him,” but “beside him, next to him.”

בפתע פתאום, “very suddenly;” a construction similar to גדל פרע in verse 5.

וטמא ראש נזרו, “and he will defile his consecrated head;” this expression means that he has invalidated all the days of his being a Nazirite until now, and has to start the count anew.” The reason is that those days have to be counted consecutively, [generally the vow is valid for 30 days unless specified differently at the outset. Ed.] Any interruption of his status through ritual defilement cancels the whole period preceding it. [The word ראש in connection with counting has appeared repeatedly when the Israelites underwent a census. Ed.]

שתי תורים, “two turtle doves;” these plus a male sheep below the age of one year (verse 12) i.e. three animals symbolising the three major aspects of being a Nazirite, abstention from alcoholic drink, letting his hair grow wild, and avoiding contact with dead bodies.

מאשר חטא על הנפש, “for having sinned by reason of the dead.” (He should have made sure that the building he entered did not contain a corpse) The Torah had specifically warned him not to enter such a building in verse 6 of our chapter.

וזאת תורת הנזיר, “and this is the law of the Nazirite” up to now the Torah had dealt with problems a Nazirite encounters when he violated the terms of his vow; now it proceeds to inform us about the procedures he must follows upon successful completion of the terms of his vow.

כבש אחד, כבשה אחת, ואיל אחד, “one male sheep, one female sheep, and one ram;” the three animals represent the three major aspects of a Nazirite’s vow, i.e. to abstain from any grapebased drink, including any part of the untreated fruit; to let the hair of his head grow without trimming any of it; to avoid contact with dead bodies which would defile his ritual purity. In order to underline this symbolism even further, there are three stages concerning how the parts of the ram which serves as a “peaceoffering” and that are not burned up on the altar are to be consumed. One part is to be “consumed” by the altar; one part is to be consumed by the priest or priests on duty at that time; and the third part by the owner and his family, i.e. the Nazirite himself.

ואיל אחד תמים שלמים, this last offering reflects the Nazirite’s joy at having been able to complete term of his vow successfully. Prior to offering this ram, the Nazirite must place his body weight on the animal as a gesture of dedicating it as a sacrifice, and the parts assigned to the priest or priests, must undergo the customary waving. These parts are to be given to the priests while still raw.

וגלח הנזיר, “and he shall shave of the hair of his head; from what we have read earlier in verse 5, we knew that this “shaving” is performed by a razor. Seeing that Jews are forbidden to shave by razor, this hair now has to be burned, [so that none of it can be used or enjoyed as the proceeds of a sin must not be enjoyed]. If it were not burned, innocent people not aware of its origin might use it for their own benefit.

ונתן על האש, “and place it on the fire;” because it has been sanctified, as stated in verse 5 above. This is why it was fit for burning so as not to become an unwitting obstacle to people not knowing its origin.

אשר תחת זבח השלמים, “which is under the peace offering.” Seeing that it is holy, it needs to be burned under the pot in which the meat of that offering is being boiled.

הזרוע, “the shoulder;” the word זרוע is a feminine noun as we know from Exodus 6,6: זרוע נטויה, “an outstretched arm.” This is why, when describing its adjective, the Torah wrote: בשלה, and not מבושל. Compare the words: כבידה, heavy, or שמנה, fat, or אבילה, in a state of mourning.

על חזה התנופה ועל שוק התרומה, “together with breast of waving and the thigh of heaving;” in other words: together with the breast and the thigh.

על נזרו, “on account of the vow which he shall pledge.” Compare this construction with: Leviticus 1,4: לכפר עליו, “to be acceptable to atone for him.” Compare also Psalms 44,23: כי עליך הורגנו, “since for Your sake we have been killed, etc.

”מלבד אשר תשיג ידו, “beside that which he can afford.” This is also a construction which we find elsewhere, as for instance in Leviticus 23,38: מלבד מתנותיכם, “beside your gifts.”

דבר אל אהרן, “speak to Aaron, etc.;” the reason why the paragraph dealing with the priestly blessing has been inserted at this juncture, is that they are holy, just as the Nazirite was holy, though only for a limited period, and not from birth. (Ibn Ezra)

ואל בניו, “and to his sons;” this teaches that not only the High Priest bestows blessings on the people but also the ordinary priest.

כה תברכו, “thus you shall bless:” during the first year while Jewish people were encamped in the same spot (around Mount Sinai) the Canaanites did not become aware of them. But during the second year when they had been counted according to tribes, and each knew his family tree, and they had been assigned flags, trumpets, etc., in order to organise their journeys properly, the Canaanites surrounding them had taken note of them. At this point the Canaanites had first begun to fear the approaching armies of the Israelites, [though they were not really an army as they travelled with their whole families. Ed.] The Israelites, aware of the likelihood of military encounters in the near future, now felt in need of blessings by the priests. They worried of being guilty of sins that would make them casualties in the coming confrontation. The fact is that immediately after the death of Aaron, when the Canaanites felt encouraged to attack them, they captured some prisoners. (Numbers 21,1) [Seeing that encounter happened to the next generation after almost 40 years, it is hard to see the relevance at this point. Ed.] כה תברכו, “thus you shall bless!” You are to be in a standing position when conferring these blessings.” This is spelled out more clearly in Deuteronomy 27,12: אלה יעמדו לברך, “these are to stand in order to pronounce blessing!”

אמור להם, “say to them!” this teaches that the reader in the synagogue has to call upon the priests to begin their blessings. This also teaches that the priest is not guilty of failing to carry out this commandment until he has failed to respond to the reader’s call to do so. [He can leave the Sanctuary prior to this. Ed.]

יאר ה׳ פניו, “May the Lord make His face shine;” The meaning is that the priest expresses the wish that G-d will grant the listeners life, as per Proverbs 16,15: באור פני מלך חיים, “in the light of the King’s face there is life.”

ישא ה׳ פניו אליך, “may the Lord lift up His countenance upon you!” In order to understand this properly it will help to look at Samuel II 2,22: ואיך אשא פני אל יואב אחיך “ how will I be able to look your brother Yoav in the face? [Avner had been trying to save Asa-el, his pursuer’s life, and Yoav’s brother by begging him to take advantage of the opportunity to escape from him. Ed.] The priests, in their blessing, ask G-d to welcome the members of the congregation with a welcoming and joyful heart.

ושמו את שמי, “they (the priests during their blessing) are to place My name, etc.;” the fact that in each of the verses comprising the priests” blessings they pronounce the most holy name of the Lord, makes plain that they only act as conduits, and that the blessing stems directly from the Lord. The Torah, in order to underline this concept, adds:

ואני אברכם, “and I will bless them.” G-d will bless the Israelites in response to the priests invoking this blessing. The priests are never to take credit for having blessed the people, as the blessing stems from the Lord whose messengers they are.[There are commentators who understand the above words to mean that if and when the priests bless the people as prescribed, G-d, in turn will bless them. (Rashi). Ed.]