And to offer a sacrifice
That is, when the time of purification came, the parents of our
Lord brought him from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, to present him in
the temple to the Lord as his, and to redeem him; and not only
so, but to offer the sacrifice required of child-bed women:
according to that which is said in the law of the
Lord,
( Leviticus 12:8 )
a pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons:
if the person was able, she was to bring a lamb of the first year
for a burnt offering; and a young pigeon, or a turtle dove, for a
sin offering; but in case of poverty, then the above sufficed,
and one of them was for a burnt offering, and the other for a sin
offering; which shows not only that the virgin offered for
herself a sin offering, being ceremonially unclean, but also her
mean estate and poverty, in that she offered the offering of the
poorer sort; see ( Leviticus
12:6 Leviticus
12:8 ) .