Purification After Childbirth

By the time of Jesus, bathing in water was an established part of the purification process following menstruation, but nowhere in the Bible is there mention of the menstruant bathing in water. Instruction on purification through the use of the mikveh (ritual bath) by menstruants may be traced to the time of the sages. An entire tractate of the Mishnah, Mikvaot, is devoted to immersion pools. To this day, for Jewish women committed to halachah (religious law), immersion in the mikveh is considered obligatory before marital relations can resume.

According to Leviticus 12:1-8, because of the bleeding associated with childbirth, a woman is ceremonially unclean after giving birth, just as she is unclean during her menstrual period. The uncleanness is for seven days if she bears a boy (vs. 2), and for fourteen days if she bears a girl (vs. 5). The mother must wait thirty-three additional days after a boy and sixty-six days after a girl to be finally “purified from her bleeding” (vss. 4-5). At the end of her time of uncleanness, she is to bring a sacrifice to the priest (vss. 6-8).

The Synoptic Gospels record an account of Jesus coming into contact with a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years (Matt 9:20-22; Mark 5:25-34; Luke 8:43-48). Whatever the cause of her loss of blood, the Levitical restrictions (esp. Lev. 15:19-33) rendered her ritually unclean, and likewise anyone and anything she might touch, thus making her an exile among her own people. The moment the woman touched the cloak of Jesus, however, she was healed by the power of God, and her defilement removed. The New Testament is silent about whether the woman’s actions rendered Jesus ceremonially unclean and about her obligation to bring the prescribed offerings following cessation of her discharge (cf. Lev. 15:28-30).

Rock-hewn steps descending to a mikveh (ritual immersion pool) which was discovered in 1968 during the Temple Mount Excavations. The low divider built on top of the stairs enabled a ritually clean person to exit the pool by a different path and thus avoid contact with an entering unclean person (cf. Mishnah, Shekalim 8:2).

Other Sources

In addition to the Bible, other Jewish sources indicate Judaism developed very strong and forthright teaching concerning niddah. For example, the Mishnah compares the uncleanness of an idol to the impurity of a menstruating woman (Shabbat 9:1). The failure to heed laws concerning menstruation was considered one of three transgressions for which women die in childbirth (Mishnah, Shabbat 2:6). Josephus states that women during the menstrual period were not permitted in any of the courts of the Temple (Against Apion 2:103-104; War 5:227). The social separation of women during their menses is further emphasized in the Talmud.

The Mishnaic sages taught that women were exempt from religious ordinances whose fulfillment depended upon a certain time of the day or the year (Mishnah, Berachot 3:3; Kiddushin 1:7). Thus, the lengthy periods of seclusion mandated by their ritual uncleanness, as well as their responsibilities at home, led to a general non-participation of women in the public activities of community religious life. A woman’s routine, however, could change somewhat at menopause. An “old woman,” according to the Mishnah, is one who has missed three menstrual periods (Niddah 1:5).[1]1

"Mary and Joseph followed the regulations in Leviticus 12:1ff when Jesus was a newborn (Luke 2:22ff). As an adult, however, Jesus showed that he was not especially concerned by becoming ritually unclean.[10] He was not bothered when a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years and was “contagiously unclean” broke the law and touched him (Matt. 9:20–22//Mark 5:25–34//Luke 8:43–48). Jesus does not chastise but encourages her and says, “Take heart, daughter, your faith has healed (or saved, sōzō) you” (cf. Gal 2:15-16)."

"For us today with access to clean water and modern medicine, the purification regulations have little practical value. And for us who are followers of Jesus, they have little spiritual value, as in the New Covenant, there i s no requirement of physical purity in order to have access to God’s presence.[11] (See Hebrews 10:19-22.)" 2

"When the days of her purification for a son or for a daughter are fulfilled, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a yearling lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon or a turtledove for a purification offering. 7 The priest shall offer them before the LORD to make atonement for her, and thus she will be clean again after her flow of blood. Such is the ritual for the woman who gives birth to a child, male or female. 8 If, however, she cannot afford a lamb, she may take two turtledoves or two pigeons, the one for a burnt offering and the other for a purification offering. The priest shall make atonement for her, and thus she will again be clean."3

{This restores a woman to ritual (ceremonial) purity. Even though the value of a sin offering is required, obviously giving birth is a great victory and not a sin. In these rites Joseph, Mary, and Jesus fulfilled all the requirements of the law and Jesus was fully incorporated into the Jewish faith.]

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