Purification of Women After Childbirth

(Leviticus 12:1 - 12:8)
Jehovah told Moses to give the Israelites the following instructions: "A woman who becomes pregnant and then gives birth to a son will be ritually impure for a period of 7 days, just as she is impure while she is menstruating.  On the 8th day, the baby boy must be circumcised, that is, the foreskin covering the head of the penis is to be cut off.  After that, the mother must wait 33 days until she is purified from the blood letting of childbirth.  During this time she must not have contact with anything that is deemed holy or enter the Tabernacle Sanctuary. 

"If the woman gives birth to a daughter, the mother will be ritually impure for a period of two weeks, just as she is impure while she is menstruating.  After 66 days she will be purified from the bleeding of childbirth.

"Whether the birth be of a son or a daughter, when the time of purification is over, the mother must bring to the priest at the entrance to the Tabernacle a yearling lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering.  The priest will present it to Jehovah to make atonement on her behalf, and thereafter she will purified from the bleeding of childbirth.  These regulations apply to a woman after the birth of either a son or a daughter.

"If, however, a woman cannot afford to bring a lamb for sacrifice, she may offer two young pigeons or turtledoves instead.  One will be for the burnt offering and the other for the sin offering.  The priest will make atonement on her behalf and thenceforth she will be ritually pure."

Notes
1.  It is not surprising that childbirth would make a woman ritually impure, although it is ironic that bringing forth new life, a sublime event to celebrate, results only, it seems, in making the mother impure.  The length of time during which the mother is impure is 7 days.  Yet, confusingly, she is not pure again until a period of 33 days (for a boy child) or 66 days (for a girl child) have passed.  She must then make sacrifices, burnt offerings and sin offerings, to reclaim her purity.  If she does not do so, will she remain forever impure?  Or are the sacrifices required only to provide employment for the priests? 

2.  The difference in purification times, 33 and 66 days, between a male and female birth is unexplained.  Does it have to do with the fact that the boy baby is circumcised?  Or is it due to the relative status of men and women, a man being worth twice a woman?  Most ancient and even many modern societies strongly favor the birth of males, although in Hebrew society a daughter at least had monetary value: she could be sold to her husband for a bride price.

3.  Male circumcision, although a condition of Jehovah’s patronage, was not unique to the Hebrews.  It was customarily practiced by most Semitic and Hamitic peoples from ancient times.  Greeks and Romans, however, eschewed the practice.  There are certain health benefits to circumcision, (although obvious downsides if one is to be regularly unclothed).  Adherence to the custom is uneven and opinion divided as to its virtues, but a third of the male population of earth is currently circumcised.