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.
Parallel translations
- WEB and he shall offer it before Yahweh, and make atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the fountain of her blood. “‘This is the law for her who bears, whether a male or a female.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV Then he shall offer it before the Lord, and make atonement for her. And she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who has borne a male or a female.
- NASB Then he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who gives birth to a child, whether a male or a female.
- NLT The priest will then present them to the Lord to purify her. Then she will be ceremonially clean again after her bleeding at childbirth. These are the instructions for a woman after the birth of a son or a daughter.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The priest offers the sacrifices, makes atonement, and the woman is cleansed. Atonement, not the woman's effort, restores her purity.
Overview
The priest offers the sacrifices before the LORD, makes atonement, and the woman is cleansed from her flow of blood. This is the appointed law for every mother. The priestly mediation and atoning sacrifice prefigure Christ, our great High Priest, who makes atonement once for all and cleanses His people completely (Hebrews 7:27).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Lev 1:4He 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.
- Lev 15:28–30When a woman is cleansed of her discharge, she must count off seven days, and after that she will be ceremonially clean.
- Gal 3:28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
- Heb 9:12–14He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.
- 1 Cor 7:14For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.
- Lev 4:26He 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.
- Lev 4:20He 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.
- Rom 3:23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
- Job 1:5And 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.
- Lev 4:35And 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 offerings made by fire to the LORD. In this way the priest will make atonement for him for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven.
- Lev 4:31Then 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.
- Rom 3:26He 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.
- Job 14:4Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one!
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 12:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.