St.Paul Cuts his hair?

Onesimus

So I've been reading the acts of the apostles tonight. In 18:18 The Lord says ''At Cenchreae he had his hair cut, for he was under a vow.''

Could this be were St.Clare of Assisi and St.Francis of Assisi got this idea from? ( They cut their hair too ).

What kind of vow gave St.Paul reason to cut his hair? It's interesting.

Onesimus

philologos

The Nazirite vow. It's discussed at length in Numbers chapter 6. It seems that John the Baptist (Luke 1:13-15), and Samson were under it too.

Onesimus

But in Numbers 6 The Lord instructs them to grow their hair long and it does not mention cutting it. So why would St.Paul 1) shave his head and 2) still cling to an OT law? I'm confused.

Here is another example of St.Paul performing Jewish ceremonial rites, Acts:21:23-26

it doesn't add up why he would cut his hair, but I guess it says that it was a ''temporary'' vow. And I guess once you make a vow to the Lord, Old covenant or New regardless, you must complete it right?

Onesimus

philologos

In short Numbers 6:9. I'll write more when I'm back at a computer.

Onesimus

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[FONT=Times New Roman,Times,serif]Found the answer
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Onesimus

http://haydock1859.tripod.com/id133.html

[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Times New Roman,Times,serif]Ver. 18.[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times,serif] Shorn, &c. It was customary among the Jews to make vows of abstaining from all inebriating liquor, not to cut their hair for a limited time, &c. This was the vow of the Nazarites, mentioned in Numbers vi. 18; Acts xxii. 24.[xxi. 24.?] St. Paul had probably taken upon himself some obligation of this kind; perhaps in condescension to the Jews, who were yet weak in faith. The time being now expired, he cut his hair as before. It was lawful for converts to observe these legal ceremonies, till the gospel was perfectly established, provided they did not place their hopes of salvation in them, or believe that the faith and grace of Christ were ineffectual without them. (Denis the Carthusian) --- For he had a vow, that is, Paul, not Aquila. This seems to have been such a vow, as those called Nazarenes, used to make, of abstaining from wine for a time, of not cutting their hair, and of making some offerings in the temple at Jerusalem. (Witham)[/FONT]
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hivizman

That's basically the explanation that Tom Wright gives in Acts for Everyone. He speculates that Paul had taken the vow on arrival in Corinth, and hence did not cut his hair until he left that city. Wright also quotes Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:20: "To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law." (NIV)