Leviticus 12:6 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Leviticus 12:6
And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest:
a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine plural construct
purifying
טָהֳרָ֗הּto.ho.Rah
H2892
literally brightness · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
fulfilled
וּבִמְלֹ֣אתu.vim.Lot
H4390
to fill or (intransitively) be full of · conjunction + preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
son
לְבֵן֮le.Ven
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
daughter
לְבַת֒le.Vat
H1323
a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms… · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
bring
תָּבִ֞יאta.Vi'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, hiphil 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 15:29 And on the eighth day she shall take unto her two turtles, or two young pigeons, and bring them unto the priest, to the door of the tabernac…
John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
1 Peter 1:18-19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by traditio…
Leviticus 1:10-13 And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish…
Leviticus 5:6-10 And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goa…
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; accor…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Leviticus 12:6–end
A woman that had lain in, when the time set for her return to the sanctuary had come, was not to attend there empty, but must bring her offerings, Lev 12:6. 1. A burnt-offering; a lamb if she was able, if poor, a pigeon. This she was to offer in thankfulness to God for his mercy to her, in bringing her safely through the pains of child-bearing and all the perils of child-bed, and in desire and hopes of God's further favour both to her and to the child. When a child is born there is joy and there is hope, and therefore it was proper to bring this offering, which was of a general nature; for what we rejoice in we must give thanks for, and what we are in hopes of we must pray for. But, besides…
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. The offerings were to be presented the day after the period of her separation had ended--that is, forty-first for a boy, eighty-first for a girl.
Adam Clarke on Leviticus 12:6
When the days of her purifying - It is not easy to account for the difference in the times of purification, after the birth of a male and female child. After the birth of a boy the mother was considered unclean for forty days; after the birth of a girl, four-score days. There is probably no physical reason for this difference, and it is difficult to assign a political one. Some of the ancient physicians assert that a woman is in the order of nature much longer in completely recovering after the birth of a female than after the birth of a male child. This assertion is not justified either by observation or matter of fact. Others think that the difference in the time of purification after the…
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…
Dove — In their wild state doves generally build their nests in the clefts of rocks, but when domesticated “dove-cots” are prepared for them (Cant. 2:14; Jer. 48:28; Isa. 60:8). The dove was placed on the…
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…
Pigeon — Pigeons are mentioned as among the offerings which, by divine appointment, Abram presented unto the Lord (Gen. 15:9). They were afterwards enumerated among the sin-offerings (Lev. 1:14; 12:6), and…
Sheep — Are of different varieties. Probably the flocks of Abraham and Isaac were of the wild species found still in the mountain regions of Persia and Kurdistan. After the Exodus, and as a result of…
Atonement · MA — MA
Birds · Clean: Pigeon — Clean: Pigeon
Burnt Offering, The · Was offered: At purification of women — Was offered: At purification of women
Defilement · .Childbirth
lamb
כֶּ֤בֶשׂKe.ves
H3532
a ram (just old enough to butt) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
first
בֶּןben-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
year
שְׁנָתוֹ֙she.na.To
H8141
a year (as a revolution of time) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
offering
לְעֹלָ֔הle.'o.Lah
H5930
a step or (collectively · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
young
וּבֶןu.ven-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
pigeon
יוֹנָ֥הyo.Nah
H3123
a dove (apparently from the warmth of their mating) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
turtledove
תֹ֖רtor
H8449
a ring-dove · noun, common both genders singular absolute
offering
לְחַטָּ֑אתle.cha.Tat
H2403
an offence (sometimes habitual sinfulness) · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
door
פֶּ֥תַחPe.tach
H6607
an opening (literally) · noun, common masculine singular construct
tabernacle
אֹֽהֶל'o.hel-
H168
a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance) · noun, common masculine singular construct
congregation
מוֹעֵ֖דmo.'Ed
H4150
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
priest
הַכֹּהֵֽןha.ko.Hen
H3548
literally one officiating · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
on Leviticus 12:6
And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter,.... For a son forty days, and for a daughter eighty; but the ancient Jews formerly, that they might not break it, ordered, that the offering enjoined as follows should not be brought until the next day after the time was up: their canon runs thus (t),"a new mother does not bring her offering on the fortieth day for a male, nor on the eightieth day for a female, but after her sun is set; and she brings her offering on the morrow, which is the forty first for a male, and the eighty first for a female; and this is the day of which it is said, "when the days", &c. Leviticus 12:6."
She shall bring a lamb of the first…
After the expiration of the days of her purification "with regard to a son or a daughter," i.e., according as she had given birth to a son or a daughter (not for the son or daughter, for the woman needed purification for herself, and not for the child to which she had given birth, and it was the woman, not the child, that was unclean), she was to bring to the priest a yearling lamb for a burnt-offering, and a young pigeon or turtle-dove for a sin-offering, that he might make atonement for her before Jehovah and she might become clean from the course of her issue. שׁנתו בּן, lit., son of his year, which is a year old (cf. Lev 23:12; Num 6:12, Num 6:14; Num 7:15, Num 7:21, etc.), is used inter…
purification offering: The Hebrew word is the same as that for the sin offering (khatta’t, see study note on 4:1–5:13). This leads some scholars to think that this offering dealt only with purification or decontamination, including those cases mentioned in 5:1-6. The offering here was certainly part of a purification ritual, but it seems more likely that the sin offering repaired a lack or failure. In this context, the issue is purity rather than sin, and the focus is on restoring the woman to community fellowship, not forgiving a sinner.
Rashi on Leviticus 12:4
תשב — The word תשב signifies here “remaining”, just as in (Deuteronomy 1:46) “And ye stayed (ותשבו) at Kadesh”, and (Genesis 13:18) “and he stayed (וישב) in the Plain of Mamre”
בדמי טהרה IN THE BLOOD OF PURIFICATION — Even though she see an issue of blood she is nevertheless clean (Sifra, Tazria Parashat Yoledet, Chapter 1 7).
בדמי טהרה — There is no Mappik in the last 'ה of טהרה (as there is in the last word of this verse): it (the word) is an uninflected noun similar in meaning to טֹהַר (being a feminine form of it).
ימי טהרה — the 'ה here has a Mappik and the meaning is: the days of her טֹהַר, her purification.
בכל קדש [SHE SHALL NOT TOUCH] ANYTHING THAT IS HOLY — not anything: th…
Trespass Offering · Special occasions of offering: Purification of women — Special occasions of offering: Purification of women
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).
