Skip to content
mannafest.faith

Leviticus 12:7

in Leviticus 12

And the priest will present them before the LORD and make atonement for her; and she shall be ceremonially cleansed from her flow of blood. This is the law for a woman giving birth, whether to a male or to a female.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and he shall offer it before Jehovah, and make atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the fountain of her blood. This is the law for her that beareth, whether a male or a female.

KJV

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.

This verse in Leviticus 12

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

If, however, she gives birth to a daughter

on Leviticus 12:5-7

Every number doubles for a daughter, two weeks against one and sixty-six days against thirty-three, and the text gives no reason. The offering at verse 6 is the same either way.

This site's exposition

This is the law for a woman giving birth

The atonement here is tied to her flow of blood. The closing formula, This is the law, matches the one that ends the food laws at 11:46. Verse 8 follows as an added provision for the poor.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Who shall offer it before the Lord,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

the days of her purifying--Though the occasion was of a festive character, yet the sacrifices appointed were not a peace offering, but a burnt offering and sin offering, in order to impress the mind of the parent with recollections of the origin of sin, and that the child inherited a fallen and sinful nature.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

AND HE SHALL OFFER IT BEFORE THE ETERNAL, AND MAKE ATONEMENT FOR HER; AND SHE SHALL BE CLEANSED FROM THE FOUNTAIN OF HER BLOOD. Scripture is stating that she shall offer a ransom for her soul. See Exodus:12.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Leviticus 12:7:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976

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 words

Every 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.

  • וְהִקְרִיב֞וֹand he will present it

    vehikrivoH7126 →280 times

  • לִפְנֵ֤י<to> before

    lifneiH6440 →2123 times

  • יְהוָה֙Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • וְכִפֶּ֣רand he will make atonement

    vekhiperH3722 →102 times

  • עָלֶ֔יהָon her

    ʾaleihaH5921 →5755 times

  • וְטָהֲרָ֖הand she will be pure

    vetaharahH2891 →94 times

  • מִמְּקֹ֣רfrom [the] spring of

    mimekorH4726 →18 times

  • דָּמֶ֑יהָblood<s> her

    dameihaH1818 →360 times

  • זֹ֤אתthis

    zotH2063 →603 times

  • תּוֹרַת֙[is] [the] legal [procedure] of

    toratH8451 →219 times

  • הַיֹּלֶ֔דֶתthe [woman who] gives birth

    haiyoledetH3205 →496 times

  • לַזָּכָ֖רfor <the> male

    lazakharH2145 →82 times

  • א֥וֹor

    ʾoH176 →321 times

  • לַנְּקֵבָֽה׃for <the> female

    lanekevahH5347 →22 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Romans 3:23

    for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

    it leads to

    • Ecclesiastes 7:20

      Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

    • 1 John 1:8–10

      If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

    • Romans 3:9

      What then? Are we any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin.

    • Galatians 3:22

      But the Scripture pronounces all things confined by sin, so that by faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe.

    • Romans 11:32

      For God has consigned everyone to disobedience so that He may have mercy on everyone.

  • Through

    Leviticus 4:31

    Then he is to remove all the fat, just as it is removed from the peace offering, and the priest is to burn it on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the LORD.…

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 4:26

      He must burn all its fat on the altar, like the fat of the peace offerings; thus the priest will make atonement for that man’s sin, and he will be forgiven.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Job 1:5

    And when the days of feasting were over, Job would send for his children to purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps…

    it leads to

    • Job 42:8

      So now, take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept his prayer…

    • Genesis 8:20

      Then Noah built an altar to the LORD. And taking from every kind of clean animal and clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Where this verse is studied

About Leviticus

The Scapegoat, William Holman Hunt, 1854. Public domain.
The Scapegoat, William Holman Hunt, 1854. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.