Leviticus 12:4

12:4 Then she will remain ¹  thirty-three days in blood purity. ²  She must not touch anything holy and she must not enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are fulfilled. ³ 

Leviticus 12:6

12:6 “‘When ⁴  the days of her purification are completed for a son or for a daughter, she must bring a one year old lamb ⁵  for a burnt offering ⁶  and a young pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering ⁷  to the entrance of the Meeting Tent, to the priest.

Leviticus 21:10

Rules for the High Priest

21:10 “‘The high ⁸  priest – who is greater than his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured, who has been ordained ⁹  to wear the priestly garments – must neither dishevel the hair of his head nor tear his garments. ¹⁰ 

Leviticus 25:30

25:30 If it is not redeemed before the full calendar year is ended, ¹¹  the house in the walled city ¹²  will belong without reclaim ¹³  to the one who bought it throughout his generations; it will not revert in the jubilee.

[12:4]  ¹ tn Heb “sit, dwell” (יָשָׁב, yashav) normally means “to sit, to dwell”), but here it means “to remain, to stay” in the same condition for a period of time (cf., e.g., Gen 24:55).

[12:4]  ² tn Heb “in bloods of purification” or “purifying” or “purity”; NASB “in the blood of her purification”; NRSV “her time of blood purification.” See the following note.

[12:4]  ³ tn The initial seven days after the birth of a son were days of blood impurity for the woman as if she were having her menstrual period. Her impurity was contagious during this period, so no one should touch her or even furniture on which she has sat or reclined (Lev 15:19-23), lest they too become impure. Even her husband would become impure for seven days if he had sexual intercourse with her during this time (Lev 15:24; cf. 18:19). The next thirty-three days were either “days of purification, purifying” or “days of purity,” depending on how one understands the abstract noun טֹהֳרָה (toharah, “purification, purity”) in this context. During this time the woman could not touch anything holy or enter the sanctuary, but she was no longer contagious like she had been during the first seven days. She could engage in normal everyday life, including sexual intercourse, without fear of contaminating anyone else (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 73-74; cf. J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:749-50). Thus, in a sense, the thirty-three days were a time of blood “purity” (cf. the present translation) as compared to the previous seven days of blood “impurity,” but they were also a time of blood “purification” (or “purifying”) as compared to the time after the thirty-three days, when the blood atonement had been made and she was pronounced “clean” by the priest (see vv. 6-8 below). In other words, the thirty-three day period was a time of “blood” (flow), but this was “pure blood,” as opposed to the blood of the first seven days.

[12:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “And when” (so KJV, NASB). Many recent English versions leave the conjunction untranslated.

[12:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “a lamb the son of his year”; KJV “a lamb of the first year” (NRSV “in its first year”); NAB “a yearling lamb.”

[12:6]  ⁶ sn See the note on Lev 1:3 regarding the “burnt offering.”

[12:6]  ⁷ sn See the note on Lev 4:3 regarding the term “sin offering.”

[21:10]  ⁷ tn The adjective “high” has been supplied in the translation for clarity, as in many English versions.

[21:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he has filled his hand.” For this expression see the note on Lev 8:33.

[21:10]  ⁹ tn Regarding these signs of mourning see the note on Lev 10:6. His head had been anointed (v. 10a) so it must not be unkempt (v. 10b), and his garments were special priestly garments (v. 10a) so he must not tear them (v. 10b). In the translation “garments” has been employed rather than “clothes” to suggest that the special priestly garments are referred to here; cf. NRSV “nor tear his vestments.”

[25:30]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “until fulfilling to it a complete year.’

[25:30]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the house which [is] in the city which to it [is] a wall.” The Kethib has לֹא (lo’, “no, not”) rather than לוֹ (lo, “to it”) which is the Qere.

[25:30]  ¹² tn See the note on v. 23 above.