Joel M Bradshaw

1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. 3And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 4Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. 5But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days.

6“And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering, 7and he shall offer it before the LORD and make atonement for her. Then she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, either male or female. 8And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons,^a one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.”–Leviticus 12

1. After giving birth, nobody could come around the mother and child for a set amount of time.
2. This would allow for baby bonding and no nursing distractions.
3. This would also give the mother as much rest opportunities as possible with no social expectations.
4. SOCIAL: extra time with daughter. Rest would have been a blessing and so daughter brought that extra rest. In a world that prioritized sons, this would be something only a daughter would bring.
5. BIOLOGICAL: the extra time would have covered if the daughter was born with any external bleeding of her own.
6. This text gives us a clue as to the financial status of Joseph and Mary (Luke 2:22-24) who didn’t bring a more expensive lamb.
7. Although thinking of them in terms of salvation history, they actually brought with them the Lamb that would would later be sacrificed for sin! They didn’t know this, though.–JMB