Leviticus chapter 12
Purification after giving birth.
Note: Many people find it morally objectionable that a religion requires the killing of innocent animals.
PURIFICATION AFTER CHILDBIRTH
VERSE 1. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
VERSE 2. “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If a woman conceives, and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her monthly period she shall be unclean.
she shall be unclean seven days. If a woman gives birth to a BOY, her uncleanness only lasts seven days.
However, if she gives birth to a GIRL, the woman’s uncleanness lasts twice as long, as we see in verse 5 below.
Is a boy half as unclean as a girl?
VERSE 3. In the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
VERSE 4. She shall continue in the blood of purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any holy thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed.
VERSE 5. But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her period; and she shall continue in the blood of purification sixty-six days.
she shall be unclean two weeks. If a woman gives birth to a GIRL, her uncleanness lasts two weeks.
However, if she gives birth to a BOY, the woman’s uncleanness is only half as long, as we see in verse 2 above.
Is a girl twice as unclean as a boy?
VERSE 6. “ ‘When the days of her purification are completed for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the door of the Tent of Meeting, a year old lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove, for a sin offering.
VERSE 7. He shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement for her; then she shall be cleansed from the fountain of her blood. “ ‘This is the law for her who bears, whether a male or a female.
cleansed from the fountain of her blood. We wonder if all this talk about uncleanness and the like had an ulterior motive.
Maybe it was to give the woman a break.
This chapter gives her a week (or two) to recover from giving birth. Her break does not end until the ritual sacrifice is completed.
The ritual can be seen as a sort of official transition back into normal life.
VERSE 8. If she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons: the one for a burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering. The priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.’ ”
If she cannot afford a lamb. In ancient times, after a woman gave birth, she was to bring an offering to the temple for her purification. Mary’s offering was that of a poor person. Read more »
LEVITICUS
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, The Scapegoat, Female Sacrificial Animals
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.