Глава 12

The law of purification of a woman after childbirth Lev.12:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: The law on the purification of the mother in childbirth is given through Moses alone (and not together with Aaron, like other laws of ritual purity) - due to its more private nature. Purifying instructions for the postpartum period of a woman also existed among other peoples of antiquity, only among Israel these laws are of a purely religious nature, reflecting the Old Testament basic ideas: sin and holiness. Lev.12:2. Tell the children of Israel: If a woman conceives and gives birth to a male child, she will be unclean for seven days; as in the days of her suffering by purification, she will be unclean; The first 7 days after the birth of a boy, 14 - after the birth of a girl, the uncleanness of the mother in childbirth was considered equal to the uncleanness of monthly purifications (Lev.15.19). During this period, the uncleanness of the mother in labor was transmitted to everyone who touched her (according to the rabbis, there was a distinction between uncleanness of the first degree, or the father of uncleanness, and uncleanness of the following degrees). Lev.12:3. on the eighth day his foreskin will be circumcised; The law on circumcision, established in the patriarchal period (Gen. 17; see John 7.22), but adopted into the legislation of Sinai, is briefly but categorically repeated. Lev.12:4. and she must sit thirty-three days, cleansing herself from her blood; She must not touch anything sacred and must not come to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed. Lev.12:5. If she gives birth to a female child, then during her purification she will be unclean for two weeks, and she must sit for sixty-six days, cleansing herself from her blood. After the first (7 days or 14) period of purification came a second, less severe uncleanness, which consisted only of temporary excommunication from the sanctuary and everything sacred: 33 days for a male child, 66 for a female child. The increase in the period of purification for a female baby is explained by the view of the ancients that wives who give birth to female children put in more work” (Blessed Theodoret, question 14 on Lev.), and therefore the body of a woman in labor is more difficult to restore than at the birth of a boy (this observation, which may be true in eastern and hot countries, is not confirmed in Europe); In part, this difference could be due to the influence of the biblical view of women as the source of sin in the world (Gen. 3). Lev.12:6. At the end of the days of purification for her son or daughter, she must bring a one-year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young dove or turtle dove for a sin offering at the entrance of the tabernacle of meeting to the priest; Lev.12:7. he will bring it before the Lord and cleanse her, and she will be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law regarding one who gives birth to a male or female child. Lev.12:8. But if she is not able to bring a lamb, then let her take two turtle doves or two young doves, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering, and the priest will cleanse her, and she will be clean. Legal cleansing consists: 1) in a sin sacrifice, for the rich and the poor, consisting of a bird - a young dove or dove: this equality showed the unconditionally equal responsibility or guilt of everyone for original sin, and the purpose of the least valuable sacrifice indicated the absence of an active or conscious element in the sin being cleansed; 2) in the burnt offering, which, being a solemn sacrifice, consisted of a lamb, which for the poor was replaced by a second dove (the Most Holy Virgin brought exactly 2 doves to the church, Luke 2.22–24), and probably 3) in the peace offering. You might be interested in: