This is an excerpt from my writing "The Shadow of the Law: Comparing John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth"
4 The Nazarite and Barren Birth
There is another Torah Law that embod- ies John the Baptist, and parallels his knowledge
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of the Laws of the Old Testament. It is called the ‘Nazirite’. (Num. 6)
It appears John was a Nazirite, and this would attest to his piousness. The angel Gabriel tells Zechariah, “He is never to take wine or oth- er fermented drink”, part of the Nazirite law. It is also regarded throughout Abrahamic faiths that John was chaste.
The Nazirite (Num. 6), was a prophetic Torah Law ritual. “If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of separation to the Lord as a Nazirite, he must abstain from wine or other fermented drink; During the entire period of his vow of separation no razor may be used on his head; Throughout the period of his separa- tion to the Lord he must not go near a dead body.” The Nazirite is a seemingly priestly vow, that John could perform.”(Num 6:2 — 6:6)
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I would like to mention the story of Samson, who is perceived as a deliverer, a messi- ah of his time, in the Prophets. He was also a Nazirite from birth, and born of a barren concep- tion. (Judges 13) “because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”
(Judges 13:5) “Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything un- clean”. (Judges 13:7)
Samson is famously perceived as having long hair, and the Nazirite vow is the reason why. Samson’s downfall was a woman named Delilah. When he told her about his power, and the Nazirite vow, he was subdued, his hair was shaved off, and he lost his strength.
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Another Nazirite was the prophet Samuel. Samuel’s mother was barren, sterile, and childless as well, and she prayed for a son, offer- ing that he would never use a razor on his head, hence the Nazirite. (1 Samuel 1:11)
Remember that these Nazirite prophets were of barren birth, as was John the Baptist. When the gospels say the angel Gabriel visited Zechariah, and told him about John, and that John would never take wine or fermented drink, that is very good evidence of the Nazirite vow.
Another distinction I would like to make, is the nature of John’s birth, as opposed to Jesus’. In the gospels, Zechariah prayed to his Lord about his wife Elizabeth, who was barren. (Luke 1:7) ( Luke 1:19) We know Jesus was a virgin birth. But what does tradition of the Torah
relate about births if anything?
