Leviticus 12:1 ¶ And the
LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak
unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a
man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the
separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean. 3 And in the eighth day the flesh of his
foreskin shall be circumcised. 4 And she
shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she
shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of
her purifying be fulfilled. 5 But if she
bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her separation:
and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and six days.
We are given no explanation for why a woman who gives birth to a
girl rather than a boy is ritually unclean for twice as long or why she
requires twice as long a time of purification. Matthew Henry wrote, “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.”
Let’s reason this through. In Christ there is no distinction
between the worth of a male or a female.
Galatians 3:28 There is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male
nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
In verse 6 the offering given for the fulfillment of the woman’s
days of purification is the same so the assumption that there is some kind of
stigma attached to being female and that the woman needs more purification than
with a male-child is questionable. So why the difference, we must ask?
Commentators throughout history have made remarks about how the
woman Eve was tempted by Satan and so a double period was required for a baby
girl’s mother to be made clean and purified. Some have speculated that this
time signified that salvation would come through a man-child. All of these
things are pure speculation without a clear statement in the Bible either in
the passage or accessible through cross-references. Just because a person has
some letters after his name and goes by The Reverend Doctor Whosiwhatits
doesn’t make his speculation more true than yours.
John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church, put a more practical
spin on it, “The time in both particulars is
double to the former, not so much from natural causes, as to put an honour upon
the sacrament of circumcision, which being administered to the males, did put
an end to that pollution sooner than otherwise had been.” This is as good a
reasoning as any.
The totals are 40 days for a boy and 80 days for
a girl. Forty is often the number of trial and testing in the Bible. Moses,
Elijah, and Jesus went through 40 day periods of isolation and fasting.
Leviticus 12:6 ¶ And when
the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she
shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon,
or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation, unto the priest: 7 Who
shall offer it before the LORD, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be
cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that hath
born a male or a female. 8 And if she be
not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young
pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and
the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean.
The offering made by Mary, the mother of Jesus, underscores the
poverty in which He came into the world.
Luke 2:22 And when the days
of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they
brought him to Jerusalem, to present him
to the Lord; 23 (As it is written in the
law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the
Lord;)
24 And to offer a sacrifice
according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves,
or two young pigeons.
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