Leviticus 12:5

Leviticus 12:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)If she gives birth to a daughter, for two weeks the woman will be unclean, as during her period. Then she must wait sixty-six days to be purified from her bleeding.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days.
• New King James Version (NKJV)‘But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her customary impurity, and she shall continue in the blood of her purification sixty-six days.

Context of Leviticus 12:5

3And on the eighth day the flesh of the boy’s foreskin is to be circumcised. 4The woman shall continue in purification from her bleeding for thirty-three days. She must not touch anything sacred or go into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are complete. If, however, she gives birth to a daughter, the woman will be unclean for two weeks as she is during her menstruation. Then she must continue in purification from her bleeding for sixty-six days. 6When 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. 7And 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.

Leviticus 12:5 word by word

וְאִם־נְקֵבָ֣ה תֵלֵ֔ד וְטָמְאָ֥ה שְׁבֻעַ֖יִם כְּנִדָּתָ֑הּ וְשִׁשִּׁ֥ים יוֹם֙ וְשֵׁ֣שֶׁת יָמִ֔ים תֵּשֵׁ֖ב עַל־דְּמֵ֥י טָהֳרָֽה׃Read the interlinear

• If, howeverאִם'im · ifH518
• she gives birth toיָלַדyâlad · to begetH3205
• a daughterנְקֵבָהneqêbâh · femaleH5347
• will be uncleanטָמֵאţâmê' · to defileH2930
• for two weeksשָׁבוּעַshâbûa‛ shâbûa‛ shebû‛âh · weekH7620
• as she is during her menstruationנִדָּהniddâh · impurityH5079
• Then she must continueיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
• inעַל‛al · uponH5921
• purificationטׇהֳרָהţohŏrâh · purifyingH2893
• from her bleedingדָּםdâm · bloodH1818
• for sixty-sixשִׁשִּׁיםshishshîym · sixtyH8346
• for sixty-sixיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• for sixty-sixשֵׁשׁshêsh shishshâh · sixH8337

Cross-references for Leviticus 12:5

• 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.
• Genesis 3:13Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied, “and I ate.”
• 1 Timothy 2:14And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was deceived and fell into transgression.

Commentaries on Leviticus 12:5

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5Some have thought that this doubling of each of the two periods was intended to remind the people of the fact that woman represents the lower side of human nature, and was the first to fall into temptation. 1 Timothy 2:13-15; 1 Peter 3:7. The ancients had a notion that the mother suffers for a longer time after the birth of a girl than after the birth of a boy. The period required for the restoration of her health in the one case was thirty days, and in…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5two weeks … sixty-six days: The total is eighty days. This is double the purification time needed for a son's birth (see also Leviticus 27:2–7).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-82. If a woman, &c.--The mother of a boy was ceremonially unclean for a week, at the end of which the child was circumcised (Ge 17:12; Ro 4:11-13); the mother of a girl for two weeks (Le 12:5)--a stigma on the sex (1Ti 2:14, 15) for sin, which was removed by Christ; everyone who came near her during that time contracted a similar defilement. After these periods, visitors might approach her though she was still excluded from the public ordinances of…Read the comment

Topics related to Leviticus 12:5

• Defilement
• Sanitation

In the dictionaries

• Ablution
• Birth
• Clean
• Issue
• Week
• Atonement, Day of
• Bear; Born
• Cleanse
• Defile; Defilement
• Ezekiel

Commentaries on Leviticus 12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings