Nazir (Hebrew: נזיר) is a treatise of the Mishnah and the Tosefta and in both Talmuds, devoted chiefly to a discussion of the laws of the Nazirite laid down in Numbers 6:1-21.
In most of the editions of the Mishnah, this treatise is the fourth in the order Nashim, and it is divided into 9 chapters, containing 48 paragraphs in all.
Noteworthy is the story it narrates of the high priest Simon the Just, who never partook of the sacrifice offered by a Nazarite, with the exception of that offered by a handsome youth from the south, since in this case he could assume that the young man had made his vow with the best intentions and acceptably to God.
When Simon asked why he had decided to clip his hair, the youth replied that on beholding his image in a pool he had become vain of his own beauty, and had therefore taken the Nazaritic vow to avoid all temptations (4:7).
The Babylonian Gemara, whose introductory passage explains, by a reference to the Bible[1] why the treatise Nazir belongs to the order Nashim, contains also many interesting teachings, including the following: