Leviticus 12

A Biblical Commentary on Leviticus 12:

Note: Before getting into this, I would like to note that the laws in Leviticus 12 no longer apply; these are old covenant laws, meaning they only applied to the Jews of this era. Read here to see more on this subject.

When reading the Bible we come to many strange or challenging passages, one of these is Leviticus 12 where it seems to have sexist sentiments by God. Today we are going to jump into this chapter.

"12 And the Lord(I.e. God) spake(I.e. spoke) unto(I.e. to) Moses, saying" (Lev. 12:1 KJV). God is telling Moses commands on how to be clean.

"2 Speak unto(I.e. to) the children of Israel(I.e. The Jews), saying, If a woman have conceived seed(I.e. Delivered a child, gave birth), and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity(I.e. of her menstruation occurrences) shall she be unclean" (Lev. 12:2 KJV).

"3 And in the eighth day the flesh(I.e. the skin) of his foreskin(I.e. skin around a male's part) shall be circumcised(I.e. the removal of skin on a male's willy)" (Lev. 12:3 KJV).

"4 And she(I.e. the mother) shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing(I.e., according to Matthew Poole's commentary, she may not eat of any peace offerings offered to God) nor come into the sanctuary(I.e. the synagogue), until the days of her purifying be fulfilled" (Lev. 12:4 KJV).

"5But if she gives birth to a female child, then she shall be unclean for two weeks, as in her menstruation; and she shall stay at home in her condition of blood purification for sixty-six days." (Leviticus 12:5 NASB). [3]

Now, this is one of the more challenging passages, mainly as the Bible remains quiet on the reasoning for the distinction, even the reason for the impurity is not clear; however, many scholars have rough ideas of what the reasoning could be.

The best answer I have found lies in David Guzik's Enduring Word's commentary, as he says, "The key to understanding this ceremony is to understand the idea of original sin. As wonderful as a new baby is, God wanted it to be remembered that with every birth another sinner was brought into the world, and in this symbolic picture, the mother was responsible for bringing a new sinner into the world." [1]

The point Mr. Guzik is getting at is that a woman will give birth to another person, this person being a sinner. As men don't give birth, they are not bringing in a new person. Not to say men don't help make a child, but the woman is the one actually bringing the child into this world.

Another idea is that as men are circumcised, perhaps their duration is thus less. As Dr. Faulk says, "And some of it does have to come down to the fact the male child is being circumcised ... So there is some, some allusion that that might be that, that the perpetuation here being offering through circumcision ritual," [2].

Works Cited:

Guzik, D., 2015. Leviticus Chapter 12. [online] Enduring Word. Available at: <https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/leviticus-12/> [Accessed 7 August 2022].

"Live Stream #100: Celebration? Could Be!” YouTube, YouTube, 1 Apr. 2023, https://www.youtube.com/live/dE-S1eNreRU?feature=share. Accessed 1 Apr. 2023.