Why the Nazirite Laws Follow those of Sotah

See my TABS essay for Parashat Terumah, “Highlighting Juxtaposition in the Torah,” for more on this concept.

[2] A standard appellation for Rabbi Judah Ha-Nasi in the Mishnah.

[3] There is an unstated reliance on the verse, “Lechery, wine and new wine capture the heart” (Hosea 4:11), which links zenut, ‘lechery’ (literally ‘prostitution’) and wine.

Ibn Ezra is making the same assumption as the Midrash, that wine was involved in the woman’s adultery, see the previous note.

 As stated: “If anyone, man or woman, explicitly utters a nazirite’s vow, to set himself apart for the Lord … throughout his term as nazirite he is consecrated to the Lord” (Num. 6:2-8).

The root ma’al is used of the sotah several times in chapter 5 so mo’elet is not entirely a creation of ibn Ezra. He also finds a linguistic contrast in the word tame used of the Sotah—“if she has defiled herself “ (Num. 5:27), and the word kadosh to describe the nazirite.