Leviticus 12.1-8

Purification of Women after Childbirth: Leviticus 12.1-8

The Lord instructs Moses to speak to the people of Israel...

If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be ceremonially unclean for seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing, or come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed.
(Lev. 12.1-4)

There are many connections in this passage between dates. The blood of childbirth pollutes a woman for seven days, just like the blood of menstruation. However, as we will see, a women that menstruates does not need to make a sacrifice or wait 33 days for "blood purification." The ceremonial uncleanliness, during which time the woman may not have conjugal relations, coincides with the timing of a son's circumcision. On the eighth day the mother is free of ceremonial uncleanliness (though the blood pollution remains). This also happens to be the day of the boy's circumcision, the day he is brought into the covenant with God. The days are not necessarily related, but it is interesting how the timing lines up like that. Also notice that the total number of days the woman is unclean is 40, a symbolic number for the Israelites.

God continues:

If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean for two weeks, as in her menstruation; her time of blood purification shall be sixty-six days.
(Lev. 12.5)

Though the blood of menstruation and birth of a male cause a woman to be unclean for a week, the birth of a female results in two weeks of ceremonial uncleanliness, followed by 66 days of blood pollution. A woman is unclean twice as long for a female child as opposed to a male. Why is that? I have no idea.

When purification is complete, the woman is to bring to the temple a lamb less than a year old as a burnt offering and a pigeon or turtledove as a sin offering. The priest will offer these, make atonement for the woman, and the woman shall henceforth be clean from her "source" (or "flow") of blood. Blood that is not sacrificial is, well, dirty.

If the woman cannot afford a sheep, she is to bring two turtledoves or two pigeons, and offer one as the burnt offering and the other as the sin offering.