Childbirth regulation of purification

 Leviticus 12;1-8

The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is unclean during her monthly period.  On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised. Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over. If she gives birth to a daughter, for two weeks the woman will be unclean, as during her period. Then she must wait sixty-six days to be purified from her bleeding.

When the days of her purification for a son or daughter are over, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering.

But if she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way, the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.

In Canaan, prostitution and fertility rites were all mixed up with worship. In Israel, by sharp contrast, anything suggesting the sexual or sensual is strictly banned from the worship of God - as this chapter and chapter 15 make plain. The intention is not to write off this side of life as 'dirty', as is plain elsewhere in Scripture/ The purpose is to ensure its separation from the worship of God. The rule of strict cleanliness in all sexual matters was also a positive safeguard to health.

The difference in time for a son and a daughter is probably due to the belief that there was a longer discharge of blood after a daughter. The children themselves are not unclean.

Why?

There is a different responsibility to man and woman so boy and daughter have different purification period.

Bleeding is unclean and it is unhealthy for women to go out for work or worship. They should stay at home for recovery from birth bleeding.

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生產怎麼會有罪，因為血代表生命，流血代表流失生命，因此有象徵性的意義，罪帶出流血的結果。

窮人條款在燔祭，贖罪祭是象徵性的。

生男孩第八天受割禮，已經潔淨，所以生女孩要增長時間來潔淨。但是前面延長為14天已經可以，後面多33天很難說明。

另外一個解釋是重男輕女，在當時時代，婦女生男孩，地位提昇，如果生女孩，主婦地位不好，親人質問，加倍的時間，讓婦女有較多時間休息，避開他人的眼光。要隔離似乎不公平的待遇，婦女在得不到家人的關愛下，可以有較長時間休息。在過去婦女很難有機會較長時間休息。這個限制，是限制婦女的公公、婆婆、丈夫的不公平對待。神的法則，看似公義，不公平，其實其中有神的慈愛在當中。

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How?

Praise the Lord, even childbirth has God's love within it to care for the weak situation of the mother in her home. Because in ancient times, women give birth to boys has a higher reputation in her home. Women give birth to girls who may stay away from their family strange or bad criticization and take rest much longer.