In the BIBLE a woman takes longer to become clean when she gives birth to a daughter. WHY?

Question

The BIBLE says

LEV 12.2 - 'A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is unclean during her monthly period"

LEV. 12.5 - "If she gives birth to a daughter, for two weeks the woman will be unclean, as during her period. Then she must wait sixty-six days to be purified from her bleeding"

KING JAMES VERSION has been changed RECENTLY - WRONG AGAIN? DID THE WORD OF GOD became wrong again?

Answer 1

in a nutshell: Women are holier than men. spiritual impurity is the vacuum created from an absense of holiness. Thus, when a woman gives birth she has removed the holiness from the female from within her. A vacuum has been created. Thus, it is a greater vacuum for a girl than a boy.

Answer 2

Good question which I can not fully answer but will add some things to be considered. Please read all about it in Lev 12:1-5.

The total time of impurity is for either 40 days or 80 days depending on male or female child. This time meant separation from set apart things, the sanctuary, and others. Thus it is double for a female by being a 2 40 day period where the male is a 1 40 day period.

A period of 40 days in the bible is a time declared to complete a situation set by God for his purposes to fulfill his plan. [i.e. 40 years in the wilderness, David rules 40 years, 40 days to search out the land]

Please do not be offended but the value placed on a male unit was declared to be higher than it was on a female [see Lev ch. 27]. Thus the shorter period can be seen in one view as a reward to have a male unit for the time of separation was less. [please don't start a war over this]

Another view is that it was the female who was deceived by the serpent. Thus in Genesis ch. 3 a list of effects say that there would be pain in child birth, For one who does want to be a partaker in the worship it is pain to be deprived of doing so for an additional 40 days because of a female birth which was determined by God and not the woman. Thus I do see it as a sign for all to learn from and to better understand the order of things that God did assign for his reasons. It is God - Male - Female in a family or household.

Please this is just my view and you need not accept it OK So just smile and do form your own opinion. Study the whole Bible and maybe you will come up with a better one for you.

Answer 3

This is traditional English from the Douay Rhems version of the Bible, circa 16th century:

Lev 12:1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
Lev 12:2 Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: If a woman having received seed shall bear a man child, she shall be unclean seven days, according to the days of separation of her flowers.
Lev 12:3 And on the eighth day the infant shall be circumcised:
Lev 12:4 But she shall remain three and thirty days in the blood of her purification. She shall touch no holy thing: neither shall she enter into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification, be fulfilled.
Lev 12:5 But if she shall bear a maid child, she shall be unclean two weeks, according to the custom of her monthly courses. And she shall remain in the blood of her purification sixty-six days.
Lev 12:6 And when the days of her purification are expired, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring to the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, a lamb of a year old for a holocaust, and a young pigeon or a turtle for sin: and shall deliver them to the priest.
Lev 12:7 Who shall offer them before the Lord, and shall pray for her: and so she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that beareth a man child or a maid child.
Lev 12:8 And if her hand find not sufficiency, and she is not able to offer a lamb, she shall take two turtles, or two young pigeons, one for a holocaust, and another for sin: and the priest shall pray for her, and so she shall be cleansed.

It appears that the female is called to ceremonially account for the condition of both the mother and female child.

Since male children have no issue of blood, there is simply the mother's condition with which to contend.

With a female child, we have two females, two "issues of blood" and correspondingly, a necessary double atonement.

What's your point on the King James?

Bible translations are modified from time to time.

The original language is generally well known and can still be used for reference, or when disputes exist.

In the mean time, faithful, easy to read translations are useful for many good purposes.

Find one you like and stick with it.

The original King James is still available. Also, take a look at the Companion Bible, King James version.

Answer 4

There you go everyone: you're admitting that the Bible does not consist of the word of God, but the word of man. Another point for Islam...

Christianity considers men to be better than women!!! Anyone heard of original sin... or impurity... or differences between cleanliness after birth of daughter and son...

The "word of god" has always been written down incorrectly until the time of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Answer 5

Even though you are asking this question from a position opposed to the Bible, it is intriguing...I'll pass it along to some friends who know more than I do.

Oh, and the original KJV only used one source text (the Masoretic Text.) Newer translations use as many as 25 different sources, so there will be some minor differences from the original KJV to the NKJV. None of these, however, change the central message...God's love for us.

Answer 6

sometimes, in situations like this, the bible is suggesting something for a good reason.

it could be that a woman is LITERALLY unclean "down there" after giving birth and menstrating, and that the area should be shied away from for that time period. it could be a health risk that is translated into the bible for whatever purpose.

remember, everyone read the bible way back when. it not only told them religious stuff, but it suggested how to live their lives (in a good way). an example would be the ten commandments. they're all bad things to do. the bible is suggesting that people not do them. it combines the commandments with an allegory depicting their signifigance.

an example of my original paragraph would be (i'm not sure WHERE it appears in the bible, but i am 100% sure it's in there... old testament) when the bible suggests that people eat fish on sunday (day and product may be confused, but bear with me). this was originally intended to cause people to buy more fish, allowing the fishers a reliable income. this may have been necessary way back when, but it isn't anymore. that doesn't stop many people (mostly hacidic jews) from eating fish every sunday, because that's what the bible tells them to do.

Answer 7

Because the bible was written by men who thought the womens place was in the kitchen. Women were second hand citizens, lower than the lowest man. This was a male dominated society, and their writings reflected that. Need a current example - look at records of Afghanistan before the Taliban were removed from power. These were people that followed their religious text, word for word.

Is it any wonder that "God" is a man in every religious text???

Answer 8

The word of God has never been wrong. But humans are the ones who write it down, and all humans have prejudices and are sinners so there lies the problem...Specially during that time, men though of women less, and that is the reason for some of the sexist stuff in the scriptures.

Answer 9

God has good reasons for everything He does. I like the long answer above me. It may be that your hormones are more messed up with a child of the opposite sex and it takes longer to quit bleeding with a girl than a boy. God has his reasons so who am I to question it?

Answer 10

Because the bible was written by a bunch of misogynistic men who succeeded pretty well for a very long time in keeping the women down. Lies - all lies - the bastids.