Abstract

This thesis compares biblical naziritic behaviour. Through the various, often diametrically opposed characterizations of nazîrs, we can trace the reasons for which conceptions of holiness gradually became pacifistic in the context of Judeo-Christianity (ca. 1250 BCE-150 CE). Two distinct models of biblical naziritism can be posited: the tribal and the cultic nazîr. The tribal nazîr is a lifelong warrior of Yahweh who is consecrated in the womb and must never cut his or her hair or drink wine. The cultic nazîr, however, engages in a temporary vow in which a priest consecrates him or her and, furthermore, the cultic nazîr must also swear off contact from dead bodies during the period of consecration. These classifications, however, serve as no more than signposts to mark the limits of possibility. Often opposing traits and inconsistencies coexist within the characterization of a given naziritic figure. We can make sense of these contradictory representations as follows: when Israel was no more than a warring tribe (ca. 1250-1000 BCE) in Caanan eking out an existence in the promised land, religious heroes had to be warriors of some kind, but as the circumstances of Israel and Judah evolved over centuries, so that the Israelites and Judahites were increasingly subject to the rule of foreign powers, the Jewish priestly ruling class had to make amendments to presuppositions of holiness in order to discourage violent behaviour. The movement away from holy warrior continues to shift further until the incarnation of the holy person in early Christianity is far from militaristic.