Leviticus 12: A Mother's Purification
The law of cleansing after the birth of a son or daughter.
Leviticus 12 is a short chapter between two long ones on ritual purity, moving from the dietary rules of Leviticus 11 to the case of a woman who has just given birth. It sets separate waiting periods for a male child and a female child before she may enter the sanctuary.
Then the LORD said to Moses,
“Say to the Israelites, ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be unclean for seven days, as she is during the days of her menstruation.
And on the eighth day the flesh of the boy’s foreskin is to be circumcised.
The woman shall continue in purification from her bleeding for thirty-three days. She must not touch anything sacred or go into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are complete.
If, however, she gives birth to a daughter, the woman will be unclean for two weeks as she is during her menstruation. Then she must continue in purification from her bleeding for sixty-six days.
When the days of her purification are complete, whether for a son or for a daughter, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering.
And the priest will present them before the LORD and make atonement for her; and she shall be ceremonially cleansed from her flow of blood. This is the law for a woman giving birth, whether to a male or to a female.
But if she cannot afford a lamb, she shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. Then the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”