2. If a woman, &c.--The mother of a boy was ceremonially unclean
for a week, at the end of which the child was circumcised
(Ge 17:12;
Ro 4:11-13);
the mother of a girl for two weeks
(Le 12:5)
--a stigma on the sex
(1Ti 2:14, 15)
for sin, which was removed by Christ; everyone who came near her during
that time contracted a similar defilement. After these periods,
visitors might approach her though she was still excluded from the
public ordinances of religion
[Le 12:4].
6-8. 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.
8. bring two turtles, &c.--(See on
Le 5:6).
This was the offering made by Mary, the mother of Jesus, and it affords
an incontestable proof of the poor and humble condition of the family
(Lu 2:22-24).
Leviticus 12 Bible Commentary
Jamieson, Faussett, and Brown
Le 12:1-8. WOMAN'S UNCLEANNESS BY CHILDBIRTH.
2. If a woman, &c.--The mother of a boy was ceremonially unclean for a week, at the end of which the child was circumcised (Ge 17:12; Ro 4:11-13); the mother of a girl for two weeks (Le 12:5) --a stigma on the sex (1Ti 2:14, 15) for sin, which was removed by Christ; everyone who came near her during that time contracted a similar defilement. After these periods, visitors might approach her though she was still excluded from the public ordinances of religion [Le 12:4].
6-8. 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.
8. bring two turtles, &c.--(See on Le 5:6). This was the offering made by Mary, the mother of Jesus, and it affords an incontestable proof of the poor and humble condition of the family (Lu 2:22-24).