What must a mother bring for purification after childbirth if she cannot provide a lamb?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

She brings two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a whole burnt offering and the other for sin. The priest prays for her, and she is cleansed. This alternative follows the chapter’s stated periods of purification after a son’s or daughter’s birth.

Chapter breakdown

The Lord tells Moses to give Israel this rule. If a woman conceives and bears a son, she is unclean for seven days, as during the separation connected with her menstrual period. The infant is circumcised on the eighth day. The mother then remains thirty-three days in the blood of her purification. She must touch no holy thing and must not enter the sanctuary until her days of purification are complete.

If she bears a daughter, she is unclean for two weeks, as during her monthly courses, and remains in the blood of her purification for sixty-six days.

When the days of purification are complete, whether she has borne a son or a daughter, she brings a one-year-old lamb for a holocaust, a whole burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for sin to the door of the tabernacle of testimony. She gives them to the priest, who offers them before the Lord and prays for her. She is then cleansed from the discharge of her blood. This is the law for a woman who bears a son or daughter.

If she does not have enough and cannot offer a lamb, she takes two turtledoves or two young pigeons. One is for a whole burnt offering and the other for sin. The priest prays for her, and she is cleansed.

The story inside

The offering instructions first give the usual requirement and then a specific alternative (12:6–8). After the purification period for either a son or daughter, the mother brings a one-year-old lamb and one of the named birds to the tabernacle door. The priest offers them and prays, and she is cleansed from the issue of blood. The next verse addresses the mother who cannot provide the lamb. It allows two turtledoves or two young pigeons, assigning one to the burnt offering and the other to the sin offering, and again states priestly prayer and cleansing. The alternative changes the animals while preserving the two stated purposes and the recorded result. The chapter gives this rule rather than telling the story of a particular mother, her finances or her eventual visit.

Lessons worth keeping

1
The periods after a son and daughter are stated separately. Seven days and thirty-three days follow a son’s birth; two weeks and sixty-six days follow a daughter’s. Keeping both stages preserves the rule without supplying an explanation for the differing lengths.
2
The ordinary offering is the same after either birth. Once the days are complete, the mother brings the year-old lamb and a young pigeon or turtledove to the priest at the tabernacle door. The priest’s offering and prayer are part of the account of her cleansing.
3
Inability to provide the lamb has a defined alternative. Two turtledoves or two young pigeons take the place of the usual animals, with one for burnt offering and one for sin. The text still states that the priest prays and she is cleansed; it does not describe a particular family or market transaction.

Test your recall

How does inability to provide a lamb change the required offerings, and what does the priest do for the mother?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 11802–11816
Leviticus Chapter 12 The purification of women after childbirth. 12:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 12:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: If a woman having received seed shall bear a man child, she shall be unclean seven days, according to the days of separation of her flowers. 12:3. And on the eighth day the infant shall be circumcised: 12:4. But she shall remain three and thirty days in the blood of her purification. She shall touch no holy thing: neither shall she enter into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification, be fulfilled.
Lines 11818–11820
12:5. But if she shall bear a maid child, she shall be unclean two weeks, according to the custom of her monthly courses. And she shall remain in the blood of her purification sixty-six days.
Lines 11822–11829
12:6. And when the days of her purification are expired, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring to the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, a lamb of a year old for a holocaust, and a young pigeon or a turtle for sin: and shall deliver them to the priest. 12:7. Who shall offer them before the Lord, and shall pray for her: and so she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that beareth a man child or a maid child.
Lines 11831–11834
12:8. And if her hand find not sufficiency, and she is not able to offer a lamb, she shall take two turtles, or two young pigeons, one for a holocaust, and another for sin: and the priest shall pray for her, and so she shall be cleansed.