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Leviticus
Chapter Twelve
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 12
This
chapter treats of the purification of a new mother, the time of whose
purification for a man child was forty days, and for a maid child eighty, Leviticus 12:1 at
the close of which she was to bring her offerings to the priests, to make
atonement for her, Leviticus 12:6.
Leviticus 12:1. Then
the Lord
spoke to Moses, saying,
YLT 1And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... The laws in the
preceding chapter were delivered both to Moses and Aaron, but what follows in
this only to Moses; but inasmuch as the priest had a concern in it, it being
his business to offer the sacrifices required by the following law, it was no
doubt given to Moses, to be delivered to Aaron, as well as to the people. R. Semlai
remarks, that as the creation of man was after that of the beasts, fowls,
fishes, &c. so the laws concerning the uncleanness of men are after those
relating to beasts, &c, and they begin with the uncleanness of a new
mother, because, as Aben Ezra observes, the birth is the beginning of man:
saying: as follows.
Leviticus 12:2.
2 “Speak to the children of
Israel, saying: ‘If a woman has conceived, and borne a male child, then she
shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her customary impurity she shall
be unclean.
YLT 2`Speak unto the sons of Israel, saying, A
woman when she giveth seed, and hath born a male, then she hath been unclean
seven days, according to the days of separation for her sickness she is
unclean;
Speak unto the children of Israel,.... For this law only
concerned them, and not other nations of the world:
if a woman have conceived seed; by lying with a man, and
so becomes pregnant, and goes on with her pregnancy until she brings forth a
child. The Jews from hence gather, that this law respects abortions; that if a
woman has conceived and miscarries, eighty one days after the birth of a
female, and forty one after a male, she must bring her offeringF13Misn.
Ceritot, c. 1. sect. 6. Maimon. & Bartenora, in ib. ; but the law seems
only to regard such as are with child, and proceed to the due time of
childbirth, whether then the child is born alive or dead:
and born a man child; which is, generally
speaking, not only matter of joy to the mother, but to the whole family, see John 16:21 then she
shall be unclean seven days; be separate from all company, except those whose
presence is necessary to take care of her in her circumstances, and do what is
proper for her, and even these became ceremonially unclean thereby; yea, her
husband was not permitted to sit near her, nor to eat and drink with her:
according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall
she be unclean; the same number of days, even seven, she was unclean on account
of childbirth, as she was for her monthly courses, called here an infirmity or
sickness, incident to all females when grown up, at which time they were
separate from all persons; and the case was the same with a new mother; see Leviticus 15:14.
Leviticus 12:3.
3 And on the eighth day the
flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
YLT 3and in the eighth day is the flesh of his
foreskin circumcised;
And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be
circumcised. Or the foreskin of his flesh, that is, of the man child born
according to the law, Genesis 17:12 and
this seems to furnish out a reason why a male child was not circumcised before
the eighth day, and why it was then, because before that its mother was in her
separation and uncleanness, and then was freed from it; and so the Targum of
Jonathan. The circumcision of a male child on the eighth day was religiously
observed, and even was not omitted on account of the sabbath, when the eighth
day happened to be on that; see Gill on John 7:22, John 7:23. It is an
observation of Aben Ezra on this place, that the wise men say "in the
day", and not in the night, lo, he that is born half an hour before the
setting of the sun is circumcised after six days and a half, for the day of the
law is not from time to time.
Leviticus 12:4.
4 She shall then continue in
the blood of her purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any
hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary until the days of her purification
are fulfilled.
YLT 4and thirty and three days she doth abide in
the blood of her cleansing; against any holy thing she doth not come, and unto
the sanctuary she doth not go in, till the fulness of the days of her
cleansing.
And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying three and
thirty days,.... That is, so many more, in all forty; for though at the end
of seven days she was in some respects free from her uncleanness, yet not
altogether, but remained in the blood of her purifying, or in the purifying of
her blood, which was more and more purified, and completely at the end of forty
days: so with the Persians it is said, a new mother must avoid everything for
forty days; when that time is passed, she may wash and be purifiedF14Lib.
Shad-der, port. 86. apud Hyde Hist. Relig. Vet. Pers. p. 478. ; and which
perhaps Zoroastres, the founder of the Persian religion, at least the reformer
of it, being a Jew, as is by some supposed, he might take it from hence:
she shall touch no hallowed thing; as the tithe, the heave
offering, the flesh of the peace offerings, as Aben Ezra explains it, if she
was a priest's wife:
nor come into the sanctuary; the court of the
tabernacle of the congregation, or the court of the temple, as the same writer
observes; and so with the Greeks, a pregnant woman might not come into a temple
before the fortieth dayF15Censorinus apud Grotium in loc. , that is,
of her delivery:
until the days of her purifying be fulfilled; until the
setting of the sun of the fortieth day; on the morrow of that she was to bring
the atonement of her purification, as Jarchi observes; See Gill on Leviticus 12:6.
Leviticus 12:5. 5 ‘But
if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her
customary impurity, and she shall continue in the blood of her
purification sixty-six days.
YLT 5`And if a female she bear, then she hath been
unclean two weeks, as in her separation; and sixty and six days she doth abide
for the blood of her cleansing.
But if she bear a maid child,.... A daughter, whether
born alive or dead, if she goes with it her full time:
then she shall be unclean two weeks; or fourteen days
running; and on the fifteenth day be free or loosed, as the Targum of Jonathan,
just as long again as for a man child:
as in her separation; on account of her
monthly courses; the sense is, that she should be fourteen days, to all intents
and purposes, as unclean as when these are upon her:
and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying sixty and six
days; which being added to the fourteen make eighty days, just as many
more as in the case of a male child; the reason of which, as given by some
Jewish writers, is, because of the greater flow of humours, and the corruption
of the blood through the birth of a female than of a male: but perhaps the
truer reason may be, what a learned manF16Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr.
vol. 2. p. 314,315. suggests, that a male infant circumcised on the eighth day,
by the profusion of its own blood, bears part of the purgation; wherefore the
mother, for the birth of a female, must suffer twice the time of separation;
the separation is finished within two weeks, but the purgation continues sixty
six days; a male child satisfies the law together, and at once, by
circumcision; but an adult female bears both the purgation and separation every
month. According to HippocratesF17Apud Grotium in loc. , the
purgation of a new mother, after the birth of a female, is forty two days, and
after the birth of a male thirty days; so that it should seem there is
something in nature which requires a longer time for purifying after the one
than after the other, and which may in part be regarded by this law; but it
chiefly depends upon the sovereign will of the lawgiver. The Jews do not now
strictly observe this. BuxtorfF18Synagog. Jud. c. 5. p. 120. says,
the custom prevails now with them, that whether a woman bears a male or a
female, at the end of forty days she leaves her bed, and returns to her
husband; but Leo of Modena relatesF19History of Rites, Customs,
&c. of the Jews, par. 4. c. 5. sect. 3. , that if she bears a male child,
her husband may not touch her for the space of seven weeks; and if a female,
the space of three months; though he allows, in some places, they continue
separated a less while, according as the custom of the place is.
Leviticus 12:6. 6 ‘When
the days of her purification are fulfilled, whether for a son or a daughter,
she shall bring to the priest a lamb of the first year as a burnt offering, and
a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering, to the door of the tabernacle
of meeting.
YLT 6`And in the fulness of the days of her
cleansing for son or for daughter she doth bring in a lamb, a son of a year,
for a burnt-offering, and a young pigeon or a turtle-dove for a sin-offering,
unto the opening of the tent of meeting, unto the priest;
And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or
for a daughter,.... For a son forty days, and for a daughter eighty; but the
ancient Jews formerly, that they might not break it, ordered, that the offering
enjoined as follows should not be brought until the next day after the time was
up: their canon runs thusF20Maimon. Mechosre Capparah, c. 1. sect.
5. ,"a new mother does not bring her offering on the fortieth day for a
male, nor on the eightieth day for a female, but after her sun is set; and she
brings her offering on the morrow, which is the forty first for a male, and the
eighty first for a female; and this is the day of which it is said, "when
the days", &c. Leviticus 12:6."
She shall bring a lamb of the first year; the
Septuagint adds, without blemish, as all sacrifices should be, if not
expressed; "or the son of his year"F21בן
שנתו "filium sui anni", Montanus, Piscator,
Drusius. ; some distinguish between "the son of a year", as the
phrase sometimes is, and "the son of his year", as here; the latter
denoting a lamb in its first year, though something wanting of it, the former a
full year old, neither more nor less:
for a burnt offering; in gratitude, and by way
of thanksgiving for the mercies she had received in childbearing:
and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering; either the
one or the other. With the PersiansF23Lib. Shad-der, port. 73. apud
Hyde, ut supra, (Hist. Relig. Vet. Pers.) p. 473. , it is incumbent on a new
mother, in Abam (the twelfth month), to bring twelve oblations for the sin
which proceedeth from childbirth, that so she might be purified from her sins.
It is an observation of the Misnic doctorsF24Misn. Ceritot. c. 6.
sect. 9. , that turtles precede pigeons in all places; upon which they ask this
question, is it because they are choicer or more excellent than they? observe
what is said, Leviticus 12:6 from
whence may be learned, that they are both alike, or of equal value. But why a
sin offering for childbearing? is it sinful to bear and bring forth children in
lawful marriage, where the bed is undefiled? The Jews commonly refer this to
some sin or another, that the childbearing woman has been guilty of in relation
to childbirth, or while in her labour; and it is not unlikely that she may
sometimes be guilty of sin in some way or other, either through an immoderate
desire after children, or through impatience and breaking out into rash
expressions in the midst of her pains; so Aben Ezra suggests, perhaps some
thought rose up in her mind in the hour of childbirth because of pain, or
perhaps spoke with her mouth; meaning what was unbecoming, rash, and sinful.
Some take the sin to be a rash and false oath: but there seems to be something
more than all this, because though one or other of these might be the case of
some women, yet not all; whereas this law is general, and reached every new
mother, and has respect not so much to any particular sin of her's, as of her
first parent Eve, who was first in the transgression; and on account of which
transgression pains are endured by every childbearing woman; and who also
conceives in sin, and is the instrument of propagating the corruption of nature
to her offspring; and therefore was to bring a sin offering typical of the sin
offering Christ is made to take away that, and all other sin; whereby she shall
be saved, even in childbearing, and that by the birth of a child, the child
Jesus, if she continues in faith, and charity, and holiness, with sobriety, 1 Timothy 2:15
these offerings were to be brought
unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the
priest; to offer them up for her. When the temple was built, these were
brought to the eastern gate, the gate Nicanor, where the lepers were cleansed,
and new mothers purifiedF25Misn. Sotah, c. 1. sect. 5. .
Leviticus 12:7. 7 Then
he shall offer it before the Lord, and make atonement for
her. And she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law
for her who has borne a male or a female.
YLT 7and he hath brought it near before Jehovah,
and hath made atonement for her, and she hath been cleansed from the fountain
of her blood; this [is] the law of her who is bearing, in regard to a male or
to a female.
Who shall offer it before the Lord,.... Upon the altar of
burnt offering:
and make an atonement for her; for whatsoever sin in
connection with or that attended childbearing; as typical of the atonement by
Christ both for sin original and actual:
and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood; in a
ceremonial sense, and according to that law be pure and clean:
this is the law for her that hath born a male or a female; enjoined her,
and to be observed by her; and though now with the rest of the ceremonial law
it is abolished, yet it has this instruction in it; that it becomes women in
such circumstances to bring the freewill offerings of their lips, their
sacrifices of praise, and in a public manner signify their gratitude and
thankfulness for the mercy and goodness of God vouchsafed to them, in carrying
them through the whole time of childbearing, and saving them in the perilous
hour.
Leviticus 12:8. 8 ‘And
if she is not able to bring a lamb, then she may bring two turtledoves or two
young pigeons—one as a burnt offering and the other as a sin offering. So the
priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”
YLT 8`And if her hand find not the sufficiency of
a sheep, then she hath taken two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, one for a
burnt-offering, and one for a sin-offering, and the priest hath made atonement
for her, and she hath been cleansed.'
And if she be not able to bring a lamb,.... As
everyone was not in circumstances sufficient to be at the expense of buying a
lamb for this purpose, having none of their own:
then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; which was a
kind and merciful provision for the poorer sort; since it was necessary that by
them the favour received should be acknowledged, as well as the sin attending
them in such circumstances should be atoned for. This being the offering
brought by the mother of our Lord, shows the state of poverty in which she was;
and by this, and the circumcision of her child, and the presentation of it
before the Lord at the time of her purification, it appears that they were both
under the law, and obedient to it:
the one for a burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering; Jarchi
observes, that in oblations the sin offering goes before the burnt offering,
for sin being atoned for, the gift was accepted; but here the burnt offering
went first, the reason is not very apparent:
and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be
clean; equally the same as if she had brought a lamb, instead of young
pigeons, or turtledoves.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》