“This is the law of the nazirite, on the day of the completion of the days of his naziriteship he shall bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting” (Numbers 6:13). “This is the law of the nazirite” the law for both a nazirite for [a specific period of] days, and an eternal nazirite. Do you, perhaps, include the naziriteship of Samson?127There is a form of naziriteship called the naziriteship of Samson which is distinct from an eternal naziriteship, as described in the midrash here.
The verse states: “This,” as they said: What is the difference between an eternal nazirite and a Samson nazirite? If the hair of an eternal nazirite becomes heavy, he may ease it with a razor, and he brings three animals.128He brings the three offerings, a sin offering, a burnt offering, and a peace offering, brought by a standard nazirite when he shaves at the end of his naziriteship. If he becomes impure, he brings an impurity offering.
If the hair of a Samson nazirite becomes heavy, he may not ease it with a razor and if he becomes impure, he does not bring an impurity offering. Rabbi says: Avshalom was an eternal nazirite, as it is stated: “It was at the end of forty years, and Avshalom said to the king: Please let me go and pay my vow that I vowed to the Lord in Hebron. For your servant took a vow while I lived in Geshur in Aram, saying: If the Lord restores me to Jerusalem, I will worship the Lord” (II Samuel 15:7–8).
What is “at the end of forty years”? Rabbi Nehorai says in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua: At the end of forty years since they requested a king for them. That year that they requested a king for them was the tenth year of Samuel of Rama. Avshalom would shave once every twelve months, this is the statement of Rabbi, as it is stated: “…It was at the end yamim leyamim that he would cut his hair, for it weighed upon him and he would cut his hair; he would weigh the hair of his head; it was two hundred shekels, by the king's weight” (II Samuel 14:26).
Yamim is stated here, and elsewhere it is stated: “Its redemption shall be yamim” (Leviticus 25:29). Just as there it is twelve months, so, too, here, it is twelve months. Rabbi Nehorai says: He would cut his hair once every thirty days, just as the priests cut their hair, as it is stated: “They shall not grow long hair, they shall trim the hair of their heads” (Ezekiel 44:20). Rabbi Yosei says: From Shabbat eve to Sabbat eve, as we find that princes cut their hair from Shabbat eve to Shabbat eve.
“This is the law” – for a purity offering or even for an impurity offering? The verse states: “On the day of the completion of the days of his naziriteship” – I said it only regarding one for whom there is an end to his naziriteship. “On the day of the completion,” he shall bring during the day, but not at night. “He shall bring it [oto]” – he shall bring himself, and other do not compel him to come.
This is one of three instances of et in the Torah that Rabbi Yishmael expounds. “They will cause them [otam] to bear the iniquity of guilt” (Leviticus 22:16). Did others cause them, rather they caused it to themselves? Similarly, you say: “He buried him [oto] in the valley” (Deuteronomy 34:6).
Did others bury him, or rather he buried himself? Here, too, you say: He shall bring it [oto]. He shall bring himself, and other do not compel him to come.