Uncleanness at Childbirth: The instructions on purity move from food to the beginning of life and childbirth. The purpose, again, is to help the community avoid uncleanness in tabernacle worship. Mothers birthing children was crucial for the ancient Israelite community, so it is natural to include childbirth in this Manual of Purity. This chapter also moves beyond defining the uncleanness associated with childbirth to describing means of purification.

12:1–5 These verses describe the periods of uncleanness after giving birth to a male or female child and further periods of waiting. Childbirth was a time fraught with danger and fear. Death was often imminent. The loss of blood could be extensive, and blood was significant in the Priestly scheme of things. Dealing with such a dangerous loss o…