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Leviticus 12 Bible study: She shall be clean

After a birth, Leviticus 12 gives a mother two stretches of days: seven and thirty-three for a son, two weeks and sixty-six for a daughter, with a son circumcised on the eighth day. Then the same offerings for either, and if she "cannot afford a lamb", two birds (12:8). Luke tells of it kept at Jesus' birth: the eighth day, the days of purification, and the two birds (Luke 2:21-24).

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“If she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons: the one for a burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering. The priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.’”
Leviticus 12:8 · World English Bible

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“In Leviticus 12, the mother brought the same offering after the birth of a daughter as after the birth of a son.”

Is that in Leviticus 12, or not? Make your call.

What's really going on

Two stretches of days

In the text

After a birth, the chapter sets out two stretches of days. First, "she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her monthly period she shall be unclean" (12:2), the rule Leviticus gives later: "she shall be in her impurity seven days" (Leviticus 15:19). Then "She shall continue in the blood of purification thirty-three days" (12:4). In that time "She shall not touch any holy thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed" (12:4). For a daughter the numbers are "two weeks" and "sixty-six days" (12:5).

Where it leads to Jesus

A pair of turtledoves

In the text

Leviticus 12:8leads toLuke 2:24

"If she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons" (12:8). Luke writes that "When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled" (Luke 2:22), Jesus' parents brought him to Jerusalem "to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, ‘A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.’" (Luke 2:24). Luke quotes the law's words for the offering; he doesn't say why they brought birds.

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Questions people ask about Leviticus 12

That was a taste

The rest of Leviticus 12 is waiting in Favor

  • One verse for the child
  • The days differ; the offering doesn't
  • One more verse, for a mother with less
  • The law kept at Jesus' birth
  • The eighth day in the law
  • 5 questions as you read
  • 11 more Hebrew words
  • A short check at the end
  • Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it

טָהֳרָהtohorahsay to-ho-RAH

Brown-Driver-Briggs: "purifying, cleansing". Strong's: "ceremonial purification". It comes four times in three verses: she continues "in the blood of purification" (12:4), "until the days of her purifying are completed" (12:4); for a daughter, again "in the blood of purification" (12:5); and "When the days of her purification are completed" (12:6). This is its first appearance in the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew Bible uses it 15 times, ten of them in Leviticus, where it also names the leper's day of cleansing: "This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing" (Leviticus 14:2). Luke's Gospel speaks of "the days of their purification according to the law of Moses" (Luke 2:22); Luke wrote in Greek, so this is not the Hebrew word itself.

For your group

Leviticus 12 Bible study questions

  1. 1After Jesus was born, his parents "accomplished all things that were according to the law of the Lord" (Luke 2:39). What helps you keep faithful habits in a tired or crowded season?
  2. 2A mother who "cannot afford a lamb" brought two birds, and it ended the same way: "she shall be clean" (12:8). What does that tell you about coming to God with what you have?
  3. 3This law brought a mother, after a birth, to "the door of the Tent of Meeting" with an offering (12:6). How could you mark the big moments of life, like a birth or a new start, before God together?

Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Leviticus 12 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.

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Questions

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home