Birth

As soon as a child was born it was washed, and rubbed with salt ( Ezekiel 16:4 ), and then swathed with bandages ( Job 38:9 ; Luke 2:7 Luke 2:12 ). A Hebrew mother remained forty days in seclusion after the birth of a son, and after the birth of a daughter double that number of days. At the close of that period she entered into the tabernacle or temple and offered up a sacrifice of purification ( Leviticus 12:1-8 ; Luke 2:22 ). A son was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth, being thereby consecrated to God ( Genesis 17:10-12 ; Compare Romans 4:11 ). Seasons of misfortune are likened to the pains of a woman in travail, and seasons of prosperity to the joy that succeeds child-birth ( Isaiah 13:8 ; Jeremiah 4:31 ; John 16:21 John 16:22 ). The natural birth is referred to as the emblem of the new birth ( John 3:3-8 ; Galatians 6:15 ; Titus 3:5 , etc.).