Leviticus 12

CHAPTER 12

Purification After Childbirth (12:1–8)

1–5 Any type of bleeding caused one to be ceremonially unclean³⁴ (verse 2); that is why a woman was “unclean” during menstruation (Leviticus 15:19) and childbearing. This did not mean there was anything wrong or sinful about childbirth, but only that it involved a loss of blood. In addition, there was often a slight bloody discharge for a month or so after delivery.

This period of “uncleanness” was advantageous to a new mother; she didn’t have to work or cook for one or two weeks and she didn’t have to take the sometimes arduous journey to the tabernacle to offer sacrifices. Also the semi-isolation required during the period of uncleanness protected mother and baby from infection. It is not known why the period of uncleanness was doubled for the birth of a female baby. Possibly a male baby’s CIRCUMCISION on the eighth day (verse 3) was a factor (Genesis 17:10–12).

6–8 At the end of one or two months—here called the days of her purification (verse 6)—the new mother was required to bring a burnt offering and a sin offering to make atonement for herself. The atonement was necessary not because there was something sinful about childbirth but because of the mother’s generals in sinfulness common with all other humans. In order to be made clean from her flow of blood, this general sinfulness (sinful nature) had to be atoned for.

For those who could not afford a lamb, two doves and two young pigeons could be offered. This was the same offering that Mary, the mother of Jesus, offered when her won time of purification was over (Luke 2:22–24).