“He shall dedicate to the Lord the days of his naziriteship.” All the guilt offerings in the Torah prevent atonement [if they are not brought] except for this one. Could it be, perhaps, that this one prevents it? The verse states: He shall dedicate…and shall bring” – even though he has not brought [the guilt offering], he has dedicated.
In the name of Rabbi Yishmael they said: This one, too, prevents it, as it is stated: “He shall dedicate to the Lord.” When? “And he shall bring a lamb in its first year as a guilt offering.” “He shall dedicate to the Lord the days of his naziriteship.”
From where is it derived that he is prohibited from becoming impure due to a corpse on the days following his naziriteship like [during] the days of his naziriteship, until the bringing of the offering? The verse states: “Then the nazirite may drink wine” (Numbers 6:20). Does the nazirite drink wine? Rather, it is here in order to derive and learn a verbal analogy from it.
Here, nazirite is stated, and there nazirite is stated. Just as regarding the nazirite stated elsewhere,125With regard to drinking wine. it rendered the days after naziriteship like the days during naziriteship until the bringing of the offering, so, too, regarding the nazirite stated here, it renders the days after naziriteship like the days during naziriteship until the bringing of the offering, “He shall bring a sheep,” and not a ram.
“In its first year,” of its own, and not one year according to the years of the world.126The age of the animal is determined by its birthday, and is not considered a year older as soon as Rosh HaShana arrives. “As a guilt offering,” this is a penalty. Rabbi Shimon said: We have not found a guilt offering that comes to void, other than this one alone, as it is written after it: “And the first days shall be void.”
“And the first days shall be void” – one who has earlier and later days voids it. From where is it derived that if one said: ‘I am a nazirite for one hundred days’ and became impure after one hundred minus one day, from where is it derived that it voids it all? The verse states: “And the first days shall be void” – one who has later days, voids, and this one has latter days. If he became impure on day one hundred, does it, perhaps, void everything?
The verse states: “And the [first] days…” – by inference, there are later days, and this has no latter days. Or even if he became impure at the beginning of the one hundred, does it void everything? The verse states: “And the first days shall be void” – one who has earlier days, voids, and this one has no earlier days. “As his naziriteship was impure,” – impurity voids everything, but shaving does not void everything, but only thirty days, as we require “shall grow long” (Numbers 6:5). Impurity voids, but wine does not void.