Leviticus 12:5
in Leviticus 12If, however, she gives birth to a daughter, the woman will be unclean for two weeks as she is during her menstruation. Then she must continue in purification from her bleeding for sixty-six days.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But if she bear a maid-child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her impurity; and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and six days.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Leviticus 12
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Some have thought that this doubling of each of the two periods was intended to remind the people of the fact that woman represents the lower side of human nature, and was the first to fall into temptation. 1Ti 2:13-15; 1Pe 3:7. The ancients had a notion that the mother suffers for a longer time after the birth of a girl than after the birth of a boy. The period required for the restoration of her health in the one case was thirty days, and in the other, it was 40 or 42 days.
This site's exposition
if she bear a maid child
on Leviticus 12:5-7
Every number doubles for a daughter, two weeks against one and threescore and six days against three and thirty, and the text gives no reason for it. Matthew Henry wrote that he could assign no reason but the will of the Law-maker, and Adam Clarke called the difference difficult to account for. What is asked at verse 6 is the same either way, a lamb for a burnt offering and a bird for a sin offering, so the doubling falls on the waiting rather than on the sacrifice. A sin offering is required and no sin is named anywhere in the chapter, which is why Henry offers two readings of it and settles on neither.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Threescore and six days - 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.
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. iii. 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, Ps. li.
But if she bear a maid child,....
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
AND SHE SHALL THEN ‘TEISHEIV’ 17 Literally: “sit” or “dwell.” (REMAIN) IN THE BLOOD OF PURIFICATION THREE AND THIRTY DAYS. “The term yeshivah [literally: sitting ] signifies here ‘remaining,’ just like in the verses: ‘vateishvu’ ( and ye stayed ) in Kadesh; 18 Deuteronomy:46.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִם־ | veim- | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| נְקֵבָ֣ה | nekevah | a female | H5347 → | 22 times |
| תֵלֵ֔ד | teled | she will bear | H3205 → | 496 times |
| וְטָמְאָ֥ה | vetameah | and she will be unclean | H2930 → | 162 times |
| שְׁבֻעַ֖יִם | shevuayim | two weeks | H7620 → | |
| כְּנִדָּתָ֑הּ | kenidatah | like menstruous impurity her | H5079 → | 29 times |
| וְשִׁשִּׁ֥ים | veshishim | and sixty | H8346 → | 59 times |
| יוֹם֙ | yom | day[s] | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| וְשֵׁ֣שֶׁת | vesheshet | and six | H8337 → | 216 times |
| יָמִ֔ים | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| תֵּשֵׁ֖ב | teshev | she will remain | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| דְּמֵ֥י | demei | [the] blood<s> of | H1818 → | 360 times |
| טָהֳרָֽה׃ | tohorah | purification | H2892 → | 6 times |
וְאִם־and if
veim-H518 →1069 times
נְקֵבָ֣הa female
nekevahH5347 →22 times
תֵלֵ֔דshe will bear
teledH3205 →496 times
וְטָמְאָ֥הand she will be unclean
vetameahH2930 →162 times
שְׁבֻעַ֖יִםtwo weeks
shevuayimH7620 →
כְּנִדָּתָ֑הּlike menstruous impurity her
kenidatahH5079 →29 times
וְשִׁשִּׁ֥יםand sixty
veshishimH8346 →59 times
יוֹם֙day[s]
yomH3117 →2304 times
וְשֵׁ֣שֶׁתand six
vesheshetH8337 →216 times
יָמִ֔יםdays
yamimH3117 →2304 times
תֵּשֵׁ֖בshe will remain
teshevH3427 →1079 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
דְּמֵ֥י[the] blood<s> of
demeiH1818 →360 times
טָהֳרָֽה׃purification
tohorahH2892 →6 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 3:13Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied, “and I ate.”
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 11:3
I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.
- 1 Timothy 2:14
And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was deceived and fell into transgression.
- Genesis 4:10–12
“What have you done?” replied the LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.
- Genesis 3:4–6
“You will not surely die,” the serpent told her.
- John 18:35
“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed You over to me. What have You done?”
- 2 Corinthians 11:3
Through
Leviticus 12:2“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.
it leads to
- Luke 2:22
And when the time of purification according to the Law of Moses was complete, His parents brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord
- Leviticus 15:19
When a woman has a discharge consisting of blood from her body, she will be unclean due to her menstruation for seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening.
- Job 25:4
How then can a man be just before God? How can one born of woman be pure?
- Luke 2:22
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.