Bible Strands
Leviticus 12:7
And the priest will present them before the LORD and make atonement for her; and she shall be ceremonially cleansed from her flow of blood. This is the law for a woman giving birth, whether to a male or to a female.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The text records Yahweh’s command to Moses concerning Israelite women completing their postpartum purification period. The priest acts at the Tent of Meeting after the woman presents her prescribed offerings.
The words — וְ/כִפֶּ֣ר (ve./khi.Per) translates to "and he will make atonement," while וְ/טָהֲרָ֖ה (ve./ta.ha.Rah) means "and she will be pure." Both terms describe the priest’s ritual action and the woman’s resulting ceremonial status.
The thread — The priest’s atonement function recurs in Leviticus 1:4, Leviticus 4:20, and Leviticus 4:26, where ritual slaughter and altar offerings consistently precede ceremonial cleansing. This verse extends that pattern to postpartum purification for both male and female births.
Why it lands — The text demands strict adherence to a gender- and economy-neutral ritual protocol for achieving ceremonial purity. It requires the worshiper to present the specified offerings and accept the priest’s mediation before resuming normal religious participation.
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
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.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 1:4 He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.
- Leviticus 4:20 He shall offer this bull just as he did the bull for the sin offering; in this way the priest will make atonement on their behalf, and they will be forgiven.
- Leviticus 4:26 He must burn all its fat on the altar, like the fat of the peace offerings; thus the priest will make atonement for that man’s sin, and he will be forgiven.
- Leviticus 4:31 Then he is to remove all the fat, just as it is removed from the peace offering, and the priest is to burn it on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the LORD. In this way the priest will make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.
- Leviticus 4:35 And he shall remove all the fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the peace offerings, and he shall burn it on the altar along with the food offerings to the LORD. In this way the priest will make atonement for him for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven.
- Leviticus 15:28 When a woman is cleansed of her discharge, she must count off seven days, and after that she will be ceremonially clean.
- Job 1:5 And when the days of feasting were over, Job would send for his children to purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.
- Job 14:4 Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one!
- Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
- Romans 3:26 He did this to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and to justify the one who has faith in Jesus.