Leviticus 12
EasyEnglishLeviticus 12:1
Leviticus – Bible Study Commentary *Worship the *LORD in the Beauty of *Holiness An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on the Book of Leviticus www.easyenglish.info Gordon Churchyard This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.
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Chapter 12 The birth of children to a woman v1 The *LORD said (this) to Moses.
v2 ‘Tell (this) to the *Israelites. A woman may become *pregnant and then give birth to a son. She will be *unclean for 7 days. This will be as it is during her monthly *period.
v3 On the 8th day, they must *circumcise the boy.
v4 Then the woman must wait 33 days to become *clean after she bled. She must not touch anything that is sacred. She must not go to the *LORD’s house until she is *clean again.
v5 If she gives birth to a daughter, (the woman) will be *unclean for 2 weeks. This will be as it is during her monthly *period. After this, she must wait 66 more days to become *clean after she bled.
v6 At the end of the days for her to become *clean again, she must do this. Whether the baby is a boy or a girl, the woman must go to the entrance of the *meeting tent. She must bring to the priest there a *lamb that is one year old. This is for a *whole offering. (She must also bring) a young *pigeon or a *dove for a *sin offering.
v7 (The priest) must offer them to the *LORD to make *atonement for her. Then she will be *clean after she bled. These are the rules for a woman that has a baby boy or a baby girl.
v8 If she cannot afford a *lamb, she must bring two *doves or two young *pigeons. One will be for a *whole offering, and the other one will be for a *sin offering. So the priest will make *atonement for her and she will be *clean. Notes Verse 2 Bible students do not agree why a woman is *unclean after the birth of her baby. There are two main explanations:
The woman is *unclean because she bled during the birth. She is also *unclean each month during the period when she bleeds (15:19). So, she is *unclean because of the blood.
The woman is *unclean because of original *sin, which affects her baby too. See the explanation of original *sin in the notes at the start of chapter 4. Because of the birth of her baby, *sin continues in the world. Of course, the birth of her baby should be good news. But the fact that *sin affects even her new baby is very sad.
The birth of a baby is an important occasion. Because the woman became *unclean then, she would become especially aware of *holiness. And she would think about how God wants her to bring up her new child. As the mother, she had a special responsibility to teach that child about God.
Verse 3 People *circumcise a boy when they cut a small piece of skin from the end of his *penis. That is, the part of the body that only boys and men have. The *Jews do this because of the promises that God gave to Abraham (Genesis chapter 17). It is a way to say that they believe God’s promises. However, many people do it because of tradition, not because they believe.
Verse 4 The woman can become *clean after 40 days (that is, 7 + 33). 40 is an important number in the Bible. ‘Sacred’ means that it has a connection with her religion. In order to become *clean, the woman must first offer the *sacrifices in verses 6 to 8.
Verse 5 We do not know why there is a longer period for a girl. Perhaps it is because both the father and the mother used to teach a boy. But the mother alone used to teach a girl.
Verse 6 A *lamb is a young sheep. *Pigeons and *doves are birds that behave in a gentle manner. People often keep them at home.
Verse 7 ‘*Atonement’ means that the woman was ‘at one’ or united as friends with God. So afterwards, she could go near to God’s house. And she could *worship with God’s people. Something to do
- Study these verses that have the number 40 in them.
1 Samuel 17:16
1 Kings 19:8
Deuteronomy 2:7 and 8:2
In all these verses, something new happened after 40 days!
- Read Luke 2:22-24. Mary and Joseph could not afford a *lamb.
© 2010, Wycliffe Associates (UK)
This publication is in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).
July 2010
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var w0 = new Array;w0[0]=’<b%3Eworship</b%3E ~ to praise someone (usually God). You tell him that you believe him to be very, very great. Also, you love him and you will obey him.’;w0[1]=’<b%3ELORD</b%3E ~ a special name for God. In the Hebrew Bible it translates <I%3EYHWH</I%3E. <I%3EYHWH</I%3E probably means ‘he is always alive’. So the word LORD (which means ‘master’) is not a proper translation.