Numbers 6:3 (ASV)

Passage

he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried.

Nearby Context

Numbers 6:1 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

Numbers 6:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself unto Jehovah,

Numbers 6:3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried.

Numbers 6:4 All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the grape-vine, from the kernels even to the husk.

Numbers 6:5 All the days of his vow of separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in which he separateth himself unto Jehovah, he shall be holy; he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "separate", "himself", "wine", "strong", and "drink". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "separate", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "Speak unto the children of Israel and..." into verse 4's "All the days of his separation shall...", so "shall" and "separate" belong inside that flow. In Numbers context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "shall" and "separate" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.