Leviticus 12: Group Study Handout

How to use: read Leviticus 12 aloud together, then take the questions in order. One page is enough for an evening.

Overview

Yahweh spoke to Moses about purification after childbirth. If a woman gives birth to a male child, she is unclean for seven days, as during her monthly period (vv. 1-2).

Key verse

“‘When the days of her purification are completed, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the door of the Tent of Meeting, a year old lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering:”
Leviticus 12:6 (WEB)

Outline

Leviticus 12:1–2 Instructions About Purification After Childbirth
Leviticus 12:3–4 Circumcision and Continued Purification
Leviticus 12:5–7 Guidelines for Female Childbirth
Leviticus 12:8 Provision for the Poor

Discussion questions

In v3, what is required to happen on the 'eighth day' after the birth of a male child?
What does the woman in v4 refrain from touching during her 'blood of purification'?
The difference in purification periods for sons and daughters in vv. 2-5: what might this indicate about cultural views?
The offerings mentioned in v6 suggest a requirement for atonement; why might this be significant for ritual purity?
When have you felt the need for 'purification' or distance before approaching something sacred in your life?

Go deeper

Passages that echo Leviticus 12: Luke 2, Leviticus 15, Leviticus 4.

Before next time: read Leviticus 13.