Reflections on Leviticus 12

Leviticus 12 (Contemporary English Version)

1. The LORD told Moses
   
2. to say to the community of Israel: If a woman gives birth to a son, she is unclean for seven days, just as she is during her monthly period.
   
3. Her son must be circumcised on the eighth day,
   
4. but her loss of blood keeps her from being completely clean for another thirty-three days. During this time she must not touch anything holy or go to the place of worship.
   
5. Any woman who gives birth to a daughter is unclean for two weeks, just as she is during her period. And she won't be completely clean for another sixty-six days.
   
6. When the mother has completed her time of cleansing, she must come to the front of the sacred tent and bring to the priest a year-old lamb as a sacrifice to please me and a dove or a pigeon as a sacrifice for sin.
   
7. After the priest offers the sacrifices to me, the mother will become completely clean from her loss of blood, whether her child is a boy or a girl.
   
8. If she cannot afford a lamb, she can offer two doves or two pigeons, one as a sacrifice to please me and the other as a sacrifice for sin.
   
   

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   In my reflections of the previous chapter I mentioned that the restrictions concerning what was unclean was not a matter of morality but was often a result of "accident, illness, physical processes, or other actions that were proper and even commendable." Childbirth and the menstrual period, which are discussed in chapter 12, are examples of normal physical processes that were considered unclean. In these instances it was the flow of blood that was considered unclean. Chapter 15 sheds further light on this in its discussion of the uncleanness of any bodily secretion.  Why did the birth of a female child have twice the length of time for uncleanness as a male child? No hint is given.
   
   A woman was contagiously uncleanness with the birth of a child for either 7 or 14 days depending on whether the baby was a girl or a boy. This meant anything she touched became unclean. However, she remained unclean, though not contagiously, for another 40 or 80 days during which time she couldn't enter the sanctuary. This waiting period was considered "her days of purification." When her days were complete, she was to bring both a burnt offering of a year-old male lamb (whether the baby was male or female) and a sin offering of a young pigeon or turtledove. If she didn't have the means to offer a lamb, it could be replaced with another pigeon or turtledove. It was necessary for Mary, the mother of Jesus, to take advantage of this concession. (Luke 2:22-24) Following these offerings the woman was considered clean once again.