NAZARITE or, better, NAZIRITE, the name given by the Hebrews to a peculiar kind of devotee. The characteristic marks of a Nazarite were unshorn locks and abstinence from wine (Judges xiii. 5; I Sam. i. I I ; Amos ii. i i seq.) ; but full regula tions for the legal observance of the Nazarite vow are given in Num. vi., where every product of the grape-vine is forbidden, and the Nazarite is enjoined not to approach a dead body. The law contemplates the assumption of the vow for a limited period only, and gives particular details as to the atoning ceremonies at the sanctuary by which the vow must be recommenced if broken by accidental defilement. On the expiry of his vow the Nazarite cuts off his hair and burns it on the altar, thus returning to ordinary life. In the earliest historical case, that of Samson, and in the similar case of Samuel (who, however, is not called a Nazarite), the head remains unshorn throughout life, and in these times the ceremonial observances as to uncleanness must have been less precise: e.g., Samson touches the carcass of a lion.
In the cases of Samuel and Samson the unshorn locks are a mark of consecration to God (Judges xiii. 5) for a particular service. Since, moreover, the Hebrew root n-z-r is only cally different from n-d-r, "to vow," both corresponding to the same original Semitic root (Arab. n-dh-r), it would seem that the peculiar marks of the Nazarite are primarily no more than the usual sign that a man is under a vow of some kind.