Leviticus 12

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean.

3 And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

4 And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.

5 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.

6 And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest:

7 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.

8 And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean.

This is Leviticus 12 in its entirety. It’s very clear that a woman who gives birth is made unclean by doing so. She must wait a certain number of days, then have a priest perform both a burnt and sin offering. When she gives birth to a male, she is unclean for one week. When she gives birth to a female, she is unclean for two weeks. Even after she is clean from the birth, she is still unclean from her bleeding and must wait thirty-three days if she gave birth to a male and sixty-six days if she gave birth to a female.

Such a prescription of uncleanliness would prevent a husband from having intercourse with his wife for the specified amount of time. While four to six weeks aligns well with what is stated here, there is no difference between having a male and a female that would warrant such vaginal discrimination. The only thing that seems important is that her bleeding stop so that it’s certain that she has healed before resuming intercourse.

The prescription for her not to enter a temple or touch anything hallowed is basically forcing her to rest, but this does not prevent the woman from working around the house, nor does it treat her with the respect and reverence she deserves for bearing a child. Instead, it suggests that her bearing a child is a sin that she must be purified from.

Would such a passage be written by an all-loving god? Is this this kind of god you want to worship?

Tags: Atonement, Childbirth, Sin
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Leviticus 15:19-33

19 And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even.

20 And every thing that she lieth upon in her separation shall be unclean: every thing also that she sitteth upon shall be unclean.

21 And whosoever toucheth her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.

22 And whosoever toucheth any thing that she sat upon shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.

23 And if it be on her bed, or on any thing whereon she sitteth, when he toucheth it, he shall be unclean until the even.

24 And if any man lie with her at all, and her flowers be upon him, he shall be unclean seven days; and all the bed whereon he lieth shall be unclean.

25 And if a woman have an issue of her blood many days out of the time of her separation, or if it run beyond the time of her separation; all the days of the issue of her uncleanness shall be as the days of her separation: she shall be unclean.

26 Every bed whereon she lieth all the days of her issue shall be unto her as the bed of her separation: and whatsoever she sitteth upon shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her separation.

27 And whosoever toucheth those things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.

28 But if she be cleansed of her issue, then she shall number to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.

29 And on the eighth day she shall take unto her two turtles, or two young pigeons, and bring them unto the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

30 And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for her before the LORD for the issue of her uncleanness.

31 Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.

32 This is the law of him that hath an issue, and of him whose seed goeth from him, and is defiled therewith;

33 And of her that is sick of her flowers, and of him that hath an issue, of the man, and of the woman, and of him that lieth with her that is unclean.

Some may consider these verses from Leviticus 15 as one of the laws meant to be good for our health, thus the references to uncleanliness. However, this is referring to spiritual hygiene. The woman, upon the end of her menstruation, must wait seven days. Upon the eighth day, she must make a both sin and burnt offering as an atonement. If she did nothing wrong, what would the woman have to atone for?

Menstruation is a perfectly natural process and is indeed necessary for the proper function of the female reproductive system. Women who do not menstruate do not get pregnant. This natural and necessary biological function is vital to our survival as a species, yet it has been proclaimed a sin by God. One would imagine that an all-knowing god would realize that a woman bleeding from her flowers is a perfectly natural thing. This is especially true when one considers the fact that God is the one who supposedly designed the female reproductive system to function as it does.

Moreover, a woman cannot control her menstruation, unless she works so hard that the stress causes it to cease, or she uses birth control that causes it to cease. Why should women be separated from all of society and treated like lepers for something they cannot control? It is very obvious that this portion of the King James Bible was written by men who had no clue about women, let alone the way their bodies function. They simply thought that menstrual blood was icky and decided that it must be a sin.

Then again, it is just as likely that such a law exists solely to oppress women, requiring them to make monthly offerings and constantly feel guilty for something they couldn’t control. Not only that, but the women were regarded as unclean, and anything or anyone they touched during this time also became unclean. This is just more proof that the King James Bible is a sexist document and that one of the intents of the authors was to oppress and abuse women.

Tags: Atonement, blood, burnt offering, god, Israel, issue, LORD, Menstruation, separation, Seven Days, sin offering, woman
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