Leviticus 12:2 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Leviticus 12:2
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean.
perhaps properly · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
children
בְּנֵ֤יbe.Nei
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Yis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
saying
לֵאמֹ֔רle.Mor
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
woman
אִשָּׁה֙'i.Shah
H802
a woman · noun, common feminine singular absolute
seed
תַזְרִ֔יעַtaz.Ri.a'
H2232
to sow · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
born
וְיָלְדָ֖הve.Yal.dah
H3205
to bear young · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
child
זָכָ֑רza.Khar
H2145
properly · adjective, masculine singular absolute
unclean
וְטָֽמְאָה֙ve.ta.me.'Ah
H2930
to be foul · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
seven
שִׁבְעַ֣תshiv.'At
H7651
seven (as the sacred full one) · cardinal number, both genders singular construct
days
יָמִ֔יםya.Mim
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
days
כִּימֵ֛יki.Mei
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
separation
נִדַּ֥תni.Dat
H5079
properly · noun, common feminine singular construct
infirmity
דְּוֹתָ֖הּde.vo.Tah
H1738
to be sick (as if in menstruation) · verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
unclean
תִּטְמָֽאtit.Ma'
H2930
to be foul · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Luke 2:22 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the…
Leviticus 15:19 And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be un…
Leviticus 18:19 Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.
Job 14:4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
Job 15:14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
Job 25:4 How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?
Romans 5:12-19 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Leviticus 12:1-5
The law here pronounces women lying-in ceremonially unclean. The Jews say, "The law extended even to an abortion, if the child was so formed as that the sex was distinguishable." 1. There was some time of strict separation immediately after the birth, which continued seven days for a son and fourteen for a daughter, Lev 12:2, Lev 12:5. 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. 2. There was also a longer time appointed for their purifying; th…
If a woman have conceived - In the extent mentioned here the ordinances of this chapter have little relation to us: and to inquire into their physical reasons, as far as they related to the Jews, could afford but little edification; and to make such a subject sufficiently plain would require such minute examination and circumstantial detail as could scarcely be proper for several readers. All that is necessary to be said the reader will find on Lev 12:4.
John Gill on Leviticus 12:2
Speak unto the children of Israel,.... For this law only concerned them, and not other nations of the world:
if a woman have conceived seed; by lying with a man, and so becomes pregnant, and goes on with her pregnancy until she brings forth a child. The Jews from hence gather, that this law respects abortions; that if a woman has conceived and miscarries, eighty one days after the birth of a female, and forty one after a male, she must bring her offering (m); but the law seems only to regard such as are with child, and proceed to the due time of childbirth, whether then the child is born alive or dead:
and born a man child; which is, generally speaking, not only matter of joy to the mother…
What does the following text mean: If a woman gives birth to a man, she will be unclean for seven days; it will be impure according to the days of their separation. On the eighth day he will circumcise the flesh of the child's foreskin; but he will remain inactive thirty-three days in his pure blood. He will not touch anything holy or enter the sanctuary. What difference is there between those seven days when it is impure, it is said, and the thirty-three days that it will remain inactive in its pure blood? Because if he is no longer impure during the thirty-three days, why can not he touch the holy? Is there still this difference, which is with blood, but with pure blood? Would the difference be that, when it is impure, it makes impure to wherever it is, and when it is already with pure blood, only it is not lawful for it to touch the holy and enter the sanctuary? For this is what it says: According to the days of separation from your purification. For the Scripture says elsewhere that the impurity of the woman who has menstruation lasts seven days, and during this time all that she feels about will be impure (Cf Lv 15,19.23). The text speaks of separation, because the woman separated a little so as not to stain everything, while those days passed. The law doubled these days of impurity and turned them into fourteen, if the woman gave birth to a female. The other days that he stayed with his pure blood the law had also ordered that they doubled, since they were sixty-six. Therefore, the days in the case of the birth of a man were forty, and in the case of the birth of a female, eighty. Notwithstanding the above, some Greek codices do not have with their pure blood, but with their impure blood. The text continues: At the end of the days of his purification, whether by a son or a daughter, he will present to the priest a one-year-old Lamb, without defect, as a burnt offering, and a pigeon or dove as a sacrifice for sin. the entrance of the tabernacle of the testimony. The priest will offer it before the Lord and make atonement for it and purify it from the flow of his blood. This is the law for those who give birth to a male or a female. But if he does not find enough to offer a Lamb, he will take two turtledoves or two pigeon pigeons, one as a holocaust and the other as a sacrifice for sin. The priest will make atonement for her and will be purified (Lv…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Ablution — Or washing, was practised, (1.) When a person was initiated into a higher state: e.g., when Aaron and his sons were set apart to the priest’s office, they were washed with water previous to their…
Birth — As soon as a child was born it was washed, and rubbed with salt (Ezek. 16:4), and then swathed with bandages (Job 38:9; Luke 2:7, 12). A Hebrew mother remained forty days in seclusion after the birth…
Children — The blessing of offspring, but especially of the male sex, is highly valued among all eastern nations, while a the absence is regarded as one of the severest punishments. (Genesis 16:2; 7:14; 1…
First-born, Redemption of — From the beginning the office of the priesthood in each family belonged to the eldest son. But when the extensive plan of sacrificial worship was introduced, requiring a company of men to be…
Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Uncleanness — The distinctive idea attached to ceremonial uncleanness among the Hebrews was that it cut a person off for the time from social privileges, and left his citizenship among God’s people for the while…
Defilement · .Childbirth — .Childbirth
Seven · . — .
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on Leviticus 12:1-2
Uncleanness and Purification after Child-Birth. - Lev 12:2-4. "If a woman bring forth (תּזריע) seed and bear a boy, she shall be unclean seven days as in the days of the uncleanness of her (monthly) sickness." נדּה, from נדד to flow, lit., that which is to flow, is applied more especially to the uncleanness of a woman's secretions (Lev 15:19). דּותהּ, inf. of דּוה, to be sickly or ill, is applied here and in Lev 15:33; Lev 20:18, to the suffering connected with an issue of blood.
Tyndale Open Study Notes on Leviticus 12:2
menstrual period: See 15:19-24.
Rashi on Leviticus 12:2
אשה כי תזריע IF A WOMAN HAVE CONCEIVED SEED — R. Simlai said: Even as the formation of man took place after that of every cattle, beast and fowl when the world was created, so, too, the law regarding him is set forth after the law regarding cattle, beast and fowl (contained in the previous chapter) (Leviticus Rabbah 14:1).
כי תזריע — These words are superfluous, כי ילדה would suffice — they mean literally, ”if she bringeth forth seed” and are employed to include the case that if she gave birth to him (the male child) as a pulpy mass which had dissolved, having become liquified like seed, even then its mother becomes unclean as though it were a normal birth (Niddah 27b).
כימי נדת דותה תטמא…
