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Leviticus 12

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses: ²“Tell the sons of Israel: If a woman conceives and gives birth to a male child, she will be unclean for seven days, as she is unclean during her menstrual period. ³On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin must be circumcised. ⁴She must remain for thirty-three days in the blood of her purification. She must not touch anything holy or enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are complete. ⁵But if she gives birth to a female child, she will be unclean for two weeks, as during her menstrual period, and must remain for sixty-six days in the blood of her purification.

⁶“When the days of her purification are complete, whether for a son or a daughter, she must bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a year-old lamb as a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a purification offering. ⁷He must present it before Yahweh and make atonement for her, and she will be clean from the source of her blood. This is the instruction for a woman who gives birth to a male or a female child. ⁸If she cannot afford an animal from the flock, she must take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one as a burnt offering and the other as a purification offering. The priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.”

Translation notes 4

12:2 — Conceives. The unusual Hebrew expression involves producing seed and describes conception or childbearing here. The draft gives the contextual sense without inserting a particular ancient or modern theory of reproduction. The uncleanness described is a ritual condition; the text does not call childbirth a moral offense.

12:3 — Flesh of his foreskin. Both the bodily wording and the eighth day are explicit. The circumcision instruction concerns the male child; it does not replace the mother's separate period of purification.

12:4–5 — Blood of purification. “Blood of purity” is another way to understand the expression. The text distinguishes the initial seven or fourteen days from the following thirty-three or sixty-six days, during which contact with holy things and entry into the sanctuary are restricted. It does not explain why the periods after a female birth are twice as long; the draft retains the difference without supplying a medical or social rationale.

12:6–8 — Same offerings. The offerings are the same whether the child is a son or daughter. A less costly pair of birds is permitted when the woman cannot afford an animal from the flock. The result is stated as becoming clean, without the forgiveness formula used for offenses in chapter 4. “Source of her blood” retains the bodily image rather than identifying a modern diagnosis.