Numbers 6:3, commentary and pictures

The vow of separation to the Lord could be taken by a man or a woman as a Nazarite, requiring abstinence during the period of separation from wine and strong drink, from vinegar made from them, from liquor of grapes, and from moist or dried grapes, in short from anything made of the vine tree from kernels even to husk. The prohibition reaches beyond fermented wine to all grape products, including unfermented juice and fresh or dried grapes. This abstinence teaches temperance from a Christian standpoint and defines consecration to God as being set apart to temperance and purity. It avoids familiarity with intoxicating drink and preserves clear judgment in sacred service in order to distinguish between holy and common.

The requirement explains why John the Baptist was to drink neither wine nor strong drink, because he was to be consecrated to God as a Nazarite and filled with the Holy Ghost from birth. That lifelong consecration he made his own from birth, drinking only pure water and eating the food found in the wilderness. The same instruction was laid upon the mother of Samson, who was to abstain from wine and strong drink and unclean food for the sake of her unborn Nazarite child, lest her own appetite be transferred to him. Samson afterward broke this part of his vow by using wine, thereby weakening the bond that had set him apart to temperance, purity, and God.

The four believers in Jerusalem were Nazarites whose vow was nearing completion and its purification period, after which offerings were to be made for them. Their abstinence from wine stands as an example of those who refused wine.