Bible Strands
Leviticus 12:6
When the days of her purification are complete, whether for a son or for a daughter, 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 turtledove for a sin offering.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The passage records a ritual directive given to the Israelite community concerning a woman after childbirth. The priest receives the required sacrifices at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting once the designated purification period concludes.
The words — The Hebrew phrase מְלֹאת טָהֳרָהּ (m.Lot to.ho.Ra/h) literally means "when her days of purification are completed." The verb תָּבִיא (ta.Vi') translates directly as "she will bring," specifying the woman's active responsibility in presenting the sacrifice.
The thread — This purification offering procedure parallels the regulations for ritual bleeding in Leviticus 15:29, where two turtledoves or pigeons are also brought to the priest. The narrative in Luke 2:22 applies this exact Levitical framework to Mary and Joseph presenting Jesus at the Temple.
Why it lands — The text requires the mother to formally present a burnt offering and a sin offering to restore her ceremonial status. The reader must recognize that the ritual establishes a concrete boundary between ritual impurity and restored community participation under the law.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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:
Cross-references
- Luke 2:22 And when the time of purification according to the Law of Moses was complete, His parents brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord
- Leviticus 15:29 On the eighth day she is to take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
- John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
- 2 Corinthians 5:21 God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
- 1 Peter 1:18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,
- Leviticus 1:10 If, however, one’s offering is a burnt offering from the flock—from the sheep or goats—he is to present an unblemished male.
- Leviticus 5:6 and he must bring his guilt offering to the LORD for the sin he has committed: a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering. And the priest will make atonement for him concerning his sin.
- Leviticus 12:2 “Say to the Israelites, ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be unclean for seven days, as she is during the days of her menstruation.
- Leviticus 14:22 and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whichever he can afford, one to be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.
- Leviticus 15:14 On the eighth day he is to take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, come before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the priest.