1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If a woman conceives, and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her monthly period she shall be unclean. 3In the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 4She shall continue in the blood of purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any holy thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. 5But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her period; and she shall continue in the blood of purification sixty-six days.
6“‘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. 7He shall offer it before Yahweh, and make atonement for her; then she shall be cleansed from the fountain of her blood.
“‘This is the law for her who bears, whether a male or a female. 8If she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons: the one for a burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering. The priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.’”
In traditional depictions of the Nativity scene, the wise men are often depicted as present, as if their arrival in Bethlehem coincided with that of the shepherds (Luke 2:15, 16). However, the wise men visited a child in a house (Matt 2:11), not a baby in a manger (Luke 2:16). That Jesus was at least eighteen months old would account for why Herod ordered the deaths of all male children two years old and under (v. 16). Also, had the wise men arrived within the forty days between Jesus’ birth and Mary’s ceremonial purification, their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matt 2:11) would have disqualified Mary and Joseph from offering the pair of young pigeons, a provision for those unable to afford a lamb (Lev 12:8).—DG