1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,Ooh, a widdle baby chapter! At eight verses, it's the shortest yet.
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.
3 And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
4 And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.
5 But if she bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her separation: and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and six days.
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:
7 Who shall offer it before the LORD, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that hath born a male or a female.
8 And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean.
And babies are what it's all about.
- #1: The Lord says to Moses...
- #2: Tell the Israelites that women are dirty for a week after they give birth to a son. It's the same number of dirty days she'd have had with "the curse," aka "her infirmity."
- #3: Eight days after birth, circumcise the lad.
- #4: Mom will stay bloody (but in a purifying way) for thirty-three days, during which time she won't touch anything holy or go to the sancturary (this is another rule I'm wondering whether people still practice today, and if not, why not?)
- #5: Girls are dirtier — two weeks of being unclean, and sixty-six days of wallowing in purifying blood.
- #6: When she's done her stint of stewing in her purifying blood, she's to bring a lamb and a pigeon or turtledove to the tabernacle to be sacrificed (Today, where are these simple joys of motherhood?)
- #7: The priest on duty will get her all atoned up, and she'll be cleansed from that bloodiness (figuratively or literally?). This is the law for moms who give birth to sons or daughters (as opposed to hermaphrodites?).
- #8: If she can't pony up a lamb, she's to bring two turtles or young pigeons. That'll git 'er done.
1 comment:
Babies are NOT what this chapter is about. Its really about the blood taboo.
Notice in particular that verse 7 states that as a result of making a sin offering, "...she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood".
At some point a copyist has moved this brief chapter from its original location; that's why it seems so short. It was originally the end of chapter 15; if you skip ahead you'll notice that verse 2 here refers specifically to to verse 19 of chapter 15, as if you'd already read that bit (verse 2 says "7 days, in the same way that it is for menstruation" - which is the subject of 15:19; the KJV "infirmity" is a euphemism, and modern translations are more open about it).
The reason it was moved was to obscure the underlying reasons for the rules. Chapter 15 is about "discharges", explicitly including menstruation, and it is menstruation-related reasons that are at the heart of this chapter.
In the original context, childbirth is presented as a sort-of "discharge"; this includes the ejection of the rather gruesome and bloody placenta. And it is the liquid discharge, particularly the blood, involved in that, that is the reason for childbirth to bring "ritual impurity" on the mother.
The contact with blood, and things which could potentially contain blood (like the other fluids), violate the blood taboo. That's why there's a sin offering; sin offerings were for having broken a taboo. Remember that that's "taboo" in the technical sense rather than just any old forbidden thing; something is "taboo" if it is to be avoided because it is considered SACRED. Blood wasn't seen as "dirty" or "disgusting", it was seen as "holy".
Here there is the usual 7 days before washing and then making the sin offering ("usual" compared with chapters 13-15).
8 days after birth is the day after day 7. This is significant in that its not so much "8 days" but "as soon as possible after the child is made ritually pure, which requires the 7 days to have passed since birth".
33 days is basically an attempt to estimate 1 menstrual period and enough further days to be certain that the period has been and gone.
The "churching of women" (the ceremony a week after giving birth for making women "pure" again) is still carried out by several Christian groups; its even in the official prayer book for Anglicans. Candlemas is the official date commemorating the "churching" of Mary (mother of Jesus), and is exactly 40 days (that's 33 + 7) after Christmas; but the date doesn't fit the more realistic dates for Jesus' birth, and its just a Christian excuse for the existence of a festival on that date. Its really just a cross-quarter day (half way between the winter Solstice and the spring Equinox) - "Imbolc" in North Western Europe (celtic areas) and "Lupercalia" in South Western Europe (Rome-dominated areas); Christianity couldn't extinguish the earlier festivals so they invented an excuse instead.
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