Purification After Childbirth
Leviticus 12:1-8
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Lev.12.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וידבר: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- משה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- לאמר: INF,qal,infc
Parallels
- Lev.1.1 (structural): Similar priestly formula introducing legislation — God summons/addresses Moses to give sacrificial and ritual instructions (shared Levitical legal context).
- Exod.20.1 (thematic): Divine speech introducing core law — like Leviticus 12:1, this verse frames a major legal/theological disclosure from God to Israel.
- Num.15.1 (verbal): Uses the same conventional phrase (“And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying…”) to introduce further cultic and legal regulations, mirroring Leviticus’ formulaic opening.
- Exod.25.1 (structural): Another instance of the God-to-Moses speech formula that introduces detailed instructions (here for the tabernacle), paralleling Leviticus’ pattern of divine directives to Moses.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
- And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
Lev.12.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לאמר: INF,qal,infc
- אשה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- תזריע: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- וילדה: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- זכר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וטמאה: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- שבעת: NUM,card,construct
- ימים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- כימי: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,construct
- נדת: NOUN,f,sg,construct
- דותה: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,f,sg
- תטמא: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
Parallels
- Leviticus 12:6-8 (structural): Immediate continuation of the same regulation: specifies the duration of purification, the required offerings (a lamb and a pigeon/dove), and the priestly rites that follow the seven-day impurity period.
- Leviticus 15:19-24 (thematic): Laws concerning a woman's menstrual impurity use the same legal vocabulary (tum'ah, separation, washing until evening) and illustrate the broader ritual logic governing bodily discharges and impurity.
- Deuteronomy 23:10-11 (thematic): Regulates temporary impurity from bodily discharges and prescribes isolation and washing until evening—paralleling the social and cultic handling of impurity after biological events.
- Luke 2:22-24 (quotation): New Testament application of the Mosaic purification rite: Mary undergoes 'the days of her purification' and brings the offering prescribed in the Law (direct reference to Leviticus 12).
Alternative generated candidates
- Speak to the Israelites, saying: When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male, she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of the impurity of her menstruation she shall be unclean.
- Speak to the Israelites, saying: When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male, she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her menstrual impurity, she shall be unclean.
Lev.12.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וביום: CONJ+PREP,NOUN,m,sg,abs
- השמיני: ADJ,ord,m,sg,def
- ימול: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- בשר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ערלתו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+3,m,sg
Parallels
- Genesis 17:12 (verbal): Directly parallels the command that a male child is to be circumcised when eight days old as the sign of the Abrahamic covenant.
- Luke 1:59 (quotation): Narrative echo in the New Testament: 'on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child,' showing continued observance of the eight-day rule.
- Joshua 5:2-9 (structural): Nationwide renewed circumcision at Gilgal after entry into Canaan—an institutional observance of the rite that reestablishes covenant identity.
- Deuteronomy 10:16 (thematic): Uses the language of circumcision metaphorically—'circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart'—linking the physical rite to inward covenantal fidelity.
- Colossians 2:11 (allusion): Paul reinterprets circumcision spiritually ('a circumcision made without hands'), alluding to the physical practice while relocating its meaning to union with Christ.
Alternative generated candidates
- And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
- And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
Lev.12.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ושלשים: NUM,m,pl,abs
- יום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ושלשת: NUM,f,sg,cons
- ימים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- תשב: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- בדמי: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,cons
- טהרה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בכל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- קדש: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- תגע: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- ואל: CONJ+PREP
- המקדש: NOUN,m,sg,def
- לא: PART_NEG
- תבא: VERB,qal,impf,2,f,sg
- עד: PREP
- מלאת: ADJ,f,pl,abs
- ימי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- טהרה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Lev.12.2 (structural): The opening command that establishes the purification period after childbirth; v.4 continues and specifies the thirty‑three day portion of that period.
- Lev.12:6-8 (structural): Immediate continuation of the childbirth ritual law describing the end of the purification period, the offerings to be brought, and the woman being declared clean.
- Lev.15:19-24 (verbal): Laws concerning a woman’s menstrual impurity: seven days of uncleanness, restrictions on touching holy things and contact rules — similar language and sanitary/ritual logic to Lev 12:4.
- Num.19:11-13 (thematic): Rules for impurity after contact with a corpse: exclusion/isolation and prohibition against entering the camp/holy places until purification is completed — parallels the temporary exclusion from the sanctuary in Lev 12:4.
- Lev.15:31 (thematic): Summative rationale for purity regulations — keep Israel separate from uncleanness so as not to defile the sanctuary; explains the purpose behind prohibitions like those in Lev 12:4.
Alternative generated candidates
- And thirty-three days she shall remain in the blood of her purification; she shall not touch any holy thing, and she shall not come into the sanctuary until the completion of the days of her purification.
- Then for thirty-three days she shall remain in the blood of her purification; she shall not touch any holy thing, and she shall not come into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are fulfilled.
Lev.12.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואם: CONJ
- נקבה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- תלד: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- וטמאה: ADJ,f,sg,abs
- שבעים: NUM,card,m,pl
- כנדתה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+poss3f
- וששים: CONJ+NUM,m,pl
- יום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וששת: CONJ+NUM,m,sg,cons
- ימים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- תשב: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- על: PREP
- דמי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- טהרה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Leviticus 12:1-8 (structural): Immediate context — the full childbirth purification law (male and female), of which v.5 (female: 2 weeks/66 days) is a part.
- Leviticus 15:19-24 (verbal): Law concerning menstrual uncleanness and required periods of separation and cleansing for blood-related impurity; shares vocabulary and legal logic about impurity from blood.
- Luke 2:22-24 (allusion): Narrates Mary’s presentation and purification in the Temple “according to the law,” explicitly applying the Leviticus childbirth purification regulations.
- Numbers 19:11-22 (thematic): Laws for ritual uncleanness and procedures for purification (water of cleansing); thematically related as another set of rites governing contact with blood/impurity and restoration to purity.
Alternative generated candidates
- And if she bears a female, she shall be unclean two weeks as in her menstruation, and sixty-six days she shall remain in the blood of her purification.
- But if she bears a female, she shall be unclean two weeks as in her menstruation; and for sixty-six days she shall remain in the blood of her purification.
Lev.12.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ובמלאת: CONJ+PREP,NOUN,f,sg,cs
- ימי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- טהרה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לבן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- או: CONJ
- לבת: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- תביא: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- כבש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שנתו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- לעלה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ובן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יונה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- או: CONJ
- תר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לחטאת: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- פתח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אהל: NOUN,m,sg,construct
- מועד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- הכהן: NOUN,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Leviticus 12:2–5 (structural): Immediate context prescribing the period of purification after childbirth for a son or daughter and setting up the requirement to bring offerings when the days are completed (same legal unit as v.6).
- Leviticus 12:8 (structural): Direct parallel within the same chapter giving the alternative provision when the mother cannot afford a lamb (two turtledoves or two young pigeons), clarifying economic concession connected to v.6.
- Leviticus 1:14–17 (thematic): Rules governing bird offerings as burnt offerings (procedures for turtledoves/young pigeons), providing the general sacrificial regulations applied to the bird portion of the offer in Lev 12:6.
- Leviticus 5:7, 11 (thematic): Regulations for sin offerings and the option of offering birds when the offerer is poor—parallels the sin‑offering element in Lev 12:6 and the concessionary practice for those without livestock. (See Lev 5:7 and Lev 5:11.)
- Luke 2:22–24 (allusion): New Testament narrative describing Mary and Joseph bringing a pair of turtledoves (or two young pigeons) for Mary’s purification and Jesus’ presentation in the temple, an application of the law expressed in Lev 12:6–8.
Alternative generated candidates
- And when the days of her purification are fulfilled, for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring a year-old lamb for a burnt offering, and a turtledove or a young pigeon for a sin offering, to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, to the priest.
- And when the days of her purification are fulfilled, for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a purification offering, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, to the priest.
Lev.12.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והקריבו: VERB,hiphil,perf,3,m,pl
- לפני: PREP
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- וכפר: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- עליה: PREP,3,f,sg
- וטהרה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- ממקר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- דמיה: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,f,sg
- זאת: DEM,f,sg
- תורת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- הילדת: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לזכר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- או: CONJ
- לנקבה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Leviticus 12:6 (structural): Immediate parallel in the same birth-purification instruction: prescribes the specific offerings to be brought and repeats that the priest makes atonement for the woman.
- Leviticus 15:28 (verbal): Uses similar language about a woman’s flow and the priest making her clean after purification, linking bodily impurity from blood with priestly restoration.
- Leviticus 4:20 (verbal): Shares the formula “the priest shall make atonement for him/ her,” showing the broader cultic role of the priest in effecting cleansing/forgiveness.
- Luke 2:22-24 (thematic): Narrates Mary’s presentation and her purification offerings at the Jerusalem temple, directly applying the Levitical postpartum purification and sacrificial prescriptions to New Testament practice.
Alternative generated candidates
- And he shall present it before the LORD and make atonement for her, and she shall be clean from the source of her blood. This is the law for her who gives birth, for a male or for a female.
- And he shall offer it before the LORD and make atonement for her, and she shall be clean from her flow of blood. This is the law for the one who gives birth, for a male or for a female.
Lev.12.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואם: CONJ
- לא: PART_NEG
- תמצא: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- ידה: NOUN,f,sg,abs+3s
- די: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שה: PRON,rel
- ולקחה: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- שתי: NUM,card,f,du
- תרים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- או: CONJ
- שני: NUM,m,pl,construct
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- יונה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אחד: NUM,card,m,sg
- לעלה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ואחד: CONJ+NUM,m,sg
- לחטאת: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וכפר: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- עליה: PREP,3,f,sg
- הכהן: NOUN,m,sg,def
- וטהרה: VERB,niphal,impf,3,f,sg
Parallels
- Leviticus 12:6 (verbal): Immediately preceding alternative: if she can afford it she is to bring a lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering — same ritual context and language about offerings for postpartum purification.
- Leviticus 5:7 (thematic): Provides rules for the economically disadvantaged regarding sin offerings (allowing cheaper substitutes); parallels the provision in 12:8 permitting two turtledoves/pigeons when a lamb is unaffordable.
- Leviticus 14:4–7 (thematic): Ritual of purification for a cleansed leper uses two birds and priestly atonement language (one bird killed, one released, and the priest makes atonement), echoing the motif of two birds in purification rites and priestly expiation.
- Luke 2:22–24 (quotation): Narrates Mary and Joseph’s presentation of Jesus and explicitly cites the Law’s provision to offer 'a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons' for purification — a direct New Testament fulfillment/application of Leviticus 12:8.
Alternative generated candidates
- And if her means do not suffice for a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and one for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.
- And if she cannot afford a sheep, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a purification offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
Speak to the Israelites, saying: When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male, she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her menstrual impurity, she shall be unclean. And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
Then she shall remain in the blood of her purification for thirty-three days. She shall not touch any holy thing, and she shall not enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are fulfilled. But if she gives birth to a female, she shall be unclean two weeks as during her menstruation, and she shall remain in the blood of her purification for sixty-six days. And when the days of her purification are fulfilled, for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring a year-old lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering, to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, to the priest. And he shall present it before the LORD and make atonement for her; then she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law of the woman who gives birth, for a male or for a female. But if she cannot afford a lamb, she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons: one for a burnt offering and one for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.