Leviticus 12:1

¹Then the LORD said to Moses,²“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.

Summary

Leviticus 12:1 outlines the purification process for women after childbirth, emphasizing the importance of ceremonial cleanliness in the Israelite community. This verse reflects the cultural and religious practices of the time, highlighting the significance of ritual purity in approaching God. The period of separation after giving birth served as a time of physical and spiritual renewal, allowing the woman to be reintegrated into the community and the worship life of the Israelites. While the specifics may not directly apply today, the underlying principles of reverence, obedience, and spiritual preparation remain relevant for believers in honoring God.

Commentary

Keil-Delitzsch
John Gill
Matthew Henry
Tyndale

Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

Uncleanness and Purification after Child-Birth. - Lev 12:2-4. "If a woman bring forth (תּזריע) seed and bear a boy, she shall be unclean seven days as in the days of the uncleanness of her (monthly) sickness." נדּה, from נדד to flow, lit., that which is to flow, is applied more especially to the uncleanness of a woman's secretions (Lev 15:19). דּותהּ, inf. of דּוה, to be sickly or ill, is applied here and in Lev 15:33; Lev 20:18, to the suffering connected with an issue of blood.

Matthew Henry Bible Commentary

The law here pronounces women lying-in ceremonially unclean. The Jews say, "The law extended even to an abortion, if the child was so formed as that the sex was distinguishable." 1. There was some time of strict separation immediately after the birth, which continued seven days for a son and fourteen for a daughter, Lev 12:2, Lev 12:5. During these days she was separated from her husband and friends, and those that necessarily attended her were ceremonially unclean, which was one reason why the males were not circumcised till the eighth day, because they participated in the mother's pollution during the days of her separation. 2. There was also a longer time appointed for their purifying; thirty-three days more (forty in all) if the birth were a male, and double that time if a female, Lev 12:4, Lev 12:5. During this time they were only separated from the sanctuary and forbidden to eat of the passover, or peace-offerings, or, if a priest's wife, to eat of any thing that was holy to the Lord. Why the time of both those was double for a female to what it was for a male I can assign no reason but the will of the Law-maker; in Christ Jesus no difference is made of male and female, Gal 3:28; Col 3:11. But this ceremonial uncleanness which the law laid women in child-bed under was to signify the pollution of sin which we are all conceived and born in, Psa 51:5. For, if the root be impure, so is the branch, Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? If sin had not entered, nothing but purity and honour had attended all the productions of that great blessing, Be fruitful and multiply; but now that the nature of man is degenerated the propagation of that nature is laid under these marks of disgrace, because of the sin and corruption that are propagated with it, and in remembrance of the curse upon the woman that was first in the transgression. That in sorrow (to which it is here further added in shame) she should bring forth children. And the exclusion of the woman for so many days from the sanctuary, and all participation of the holy things, signified that our original corruption (that sinning sin which we brought into the world with us) would have excluded us for ever from the enjoyment of God and his favours if he had not graciously provided for our purifying.

Leviticus 12:1

Purification after Childbirth

¹Then the LORD said to Moses,²“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.