Leviticus 12:3

3 And on the eighth day the infant shall be circumcised:

Leviticus 12:3 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 12:3

And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be
circumcised.
] Or the foreskin of his flesh, that is, of the man child born according to the law, ( Genesis 17:12 ) and this seems to furnish out a reason why a male child was not circumcised before the eighth day, and why it was then, because before that its mother was in her separation and uncleanness, and then was freed from it; and so the Targum of Jonathan. The circumcision of a male child on the eighth day was religiously observed, and even was not omitted on account of the sabbath, when the eighth day happened to be on that, (See Gill on John 7:22) (See Gill on John 7:23). It is an observation of Aben Ezra on this place, that the wise men say "in the day", and not in the night, lo, he that is born half an hour before the setting of the sun is circumcised after six days and a half, for the day of the law is not from time to time.

Leviticus 12:3 In-Context

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

2 Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: If a woman having received seed shall bear a man child, she shall be unclean seven days, according to the days of separation of her flowers.

3 And on the eighth day the infant shall be circumcised:

4 But she shall remain three and thirty days in the blood of her purification. She shall touch no holy thing: neither shall she enter into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification, be fulfilled.

5 But if she shall bear a maid child, she shall be unclean two weeks, according to the custom of her monthly courses. And she shall remain in the blood of her purification sixty-six days.