Leviticus 12:4
in Leviticus 12The woman shall continue in purification from her bleeding for thirty-three days. She must not touch anything sacred or go into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are complete.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And she shall 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.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Leviticus 12
Commentary
8 notes on this verseIn the blood of her purifying - In her polluted and separated estate; for the word blood or bloods signifies both guilt, and uncleanness, as here and elsewhere. And it is called the blood of her purifying, because by the expulsion or purgation of that blood, which is done by degrees, she is purified.
This site's exposition
Then the LORD said to Moses
on Leviticus 12:1-4
Chapter 11 was spoken to Moses and Aaron together, and this one to Moses alone. The mother's seven days of uncleanness and her thirty-three days of purification make forty in total. Luke 2:21 records the eighth day kept for Jesus.
This site's exposition
She must not touch anything sacred or go into the sanctuary
After the first week the verse names only two limits, holy things and the sanctuary. John Wesley explains her bleeding as a cleansing that happens by degrees over those thirty-three days. Albert Barnes adds that none of it fell on the child.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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.
And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days,....
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.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The blood of her purifying - A few words will make this subject sufficiently plain. 1. God designs that the human female should bring forth children. 2. That children should derive, under his providence, their being, all their solids and all their fluids, in a word, the whole mass of their bodies, from the substance of the mother. 3. For this purpose he has given to the body of the female an extra quantity of blood and nutritious juices. 4. Before pregnancy this superabundance is evacuated at periodical times.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The Levitical law ascribed impurity exclusively to the mother, in no degree to the Child.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
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
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים | usheloshim | and thirty | H7970 → | |
| יוֹם֙ | yom | day[s] | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| וּשְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת | usheloshet | and three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| יָמִ֔ים | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| תֵּשֵׁ֖ב | teshev | she will remain | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בִּדְמֵ֣י | bidmei | in [the] blood<s> of | H1818 → | 360 times |
| טָהֳרָ֑ה | tohorah | purification | H2892 → | 6 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | <in> any | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| קֹ֣דֶשׁ | kodesh | holy thing | H6944 → | 469 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִגָּ֗ע | tiga' | she will touch | H5060 → | 150 times |
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַמִּקְדָּשׁ֙ | hamikdash | the sanctuary | H4720 → | 75 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תָבֹ֔א | tavo' | she will go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| מְלֹ֖את | melot | are completed | H4390 → | 249 times |
| יְמֵ֥י | yemei | [the] days of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| טָהֳרָֽהּ׃ | tohorah | purification her | H2892 → | 6 times |
וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֥יםand thirty
usheloshimH7970 →
יוֹם֙day[s]
yomH3117 →2304 times
וּשְׁלֹ֣שֶׁתand three
usheloshetH7969 →432 times
יָמִ֔יםdays
yamimH3117 →2304 times
תֵּשֵׁ֖בshe will remain
teshevH3427 →1079 times
בִּדְמֵ֣יin [the] blood<s> of
bidmeiH1818 →360 times
טָהֳרָ֑הpurification
tohorahH2892 →6 times
בְּכָל־<in> any
bekholH3605 →5413 times
קֹ֣דֶשׁholy thing
kodeshH6944 →469 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תִגָּ֗עshe will touch
tiga'H5060 →150 times
וְאֶל־and into
veel-H413 →5510 times
הַמִּקְדָּשׁ֙the sanctuary
hamikdashH4720 →75 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תָבֹ֔אshe will go
tavo'H935 →2568 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
מְלֹ֖אתare completed
melotH4390 →249 times
יְמֵ֥י[the] days of
yemeiH3117 →2304 times
טָהֳרָֽהּ׃purification her
tohorahH2892 →6 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
4 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
Haggai 2:13So Haggai asked, “If one who is defiled by contact with a corpse touches any of these, does it become defiled?” “Yes, it becomes defiled,” the priests answered.
it leads to
- Numbers 5:2–3
“Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone with a skin disease, anyone who has a bodily discharge, and anyone who is defiled by a dead body.
- Numbers 9:6–10
But there were some men who were unclean due to a dead body, so they could not observe the Passover on that day. And they came before Moses and Aaron that same day
- Leviticus 22:4–6
If a descendant of Aaron has a skin disease or a discharge, he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is clean. Whoever touches anything defiled by a corpse or by a man…
- Numbers 19:11–22
Whoever touches any dead body will be unclean for seven days.
- Numbers 5:2–3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.