Why does God req that women ask for atonement for their "crime"(giving birth)...why is that considered sinful?

Question

Lev 12

And why is she punished more for giving birth to a female?

Answer 1

The burnt offering is understandable, but why would the new mother be required to bring a sin offering? What sin did she commit?

There is evidently something about these laws which invites a comparison with the days of creation. The reference to the number seven should alert us to a possible connection with the seven days of creation. On the sixth day, after all other creatures are created, man is created.

The Lord God commanded man saying, 'Of all trees of the Garden you shall eat. And from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil you will not eat, for on the day you eat from it you will surely die.' (Genesis 2:16-17)

We are well acquainted with the tragic end of the story. Eve and Adam eat from the tree, and although death is not the immediate result of their transgression, they become mortal. God's specific reaction to Eve's sin sheds light on our subject:

To the woman He said: 'I will greatly increase your sorrow and your pregnancy. In sorrow will you bear children.' (Genesis 3:16)

Instead of death, we find Eve, and indeed all of womankind, are told what awaits them in childbearing and childbirth. The Talmud teaches that the phrase I will greatly increase your sorrow refers to menstrual blood, the implication being that, if not for the sin of the forbidden fruit, women would not have had a menstrual cycle at all. Rather, childbirth would have been a painless, automatic, almost immediate result of physical intimacy.

In a perfect, idyllic world, there is no pain, there is no mourning. Every childbirth reminds us of the sin and punishment of Eve. We live in a world bounded by mortality, and we are forced to realize that the child who was born is destined to die.

This explains the separation between husband and wife following childbirth and the comparison to menstruation. Both are results of the same sin, and while menstruation responds to the potential life which was frustrated, the separation after childbirth is mourning for the necessity of the process of childbirth and for the mortality of the child born of this process.

The logic in requiring a sin offering now becomes apparent. Childbirth is so completely intertwined with the sin of Eve, so totally identified with and resultant from it, that a sin offering at the conclusion of this process now seems completely natural.

We may now understand why the separation period following the birth of a daughter is twice as long as the separation following the birth of a son. After the birth of a girl, the mourning for our mortality and pain is that much greater, for the child born is not only the victim of mortality but also the transmitter, as it were. She, too, will die, but more poignantly, she will carry the results of sin into the next generation. She will be the next to suffer the unavoidable consequences of sin which have become part and parcel of human existence.

Answer 2

after a woman gives birth, she bleeds for a period of time. The first week, trust me, is not "clean". It's quite messy. Even after that women can bleed for up to three weeks, sometimes more. A woman's menstrual cycle is the same way. For the 5 or 6 days she is on it. Many doctors say not to have sex in the first three days. I had one doctor that told me without protection certain things like yeast infections can get transferred that way.

It is even more so for a woman that has just give birth. The blood flow is much heavier at least for the first week. Back then they didn't have pads and tampons, and that is why most remained at home, because they would have gotten blood everywhere.

The sum for the thirty something days after that is because it is not safe to have sex in that time frame. That is why doctors say six weeks before you have sex again. My mom didn't listen, and she ended up having massive bleeding that caused her to have a hystorectomy and a blood transfusion.

It wasn't to discriminate against her but to keep her safe. It's wisdom.

Answer 3

it is not necessarily "sinful," but considered unclean. within the text of Leviticus, human and animal blood was considered unclean outside of the body, because living beings get their life from it. so it was not a "sin" to give birth, but it was considered unclean and therefore needed a time of cleansing. the woman is not punished, but needs a longer time for cleansing for the birth of a girl because of the eventual menstruation cycle that the girl will be faced with.

With the life of Jesus, all that was "unclean" by the Torah (Law of Jews) was now to be considered clean.

Granted it does seem male-centered, but we have to realize that the patriarchal-centered culture of Ancient Near Eastern culture is the context in which these revelations and laws were given and eventually written into the Torah.

Answer 4

This is old testament if memory serves. It's because the men who wrote those parts of the bible wanted to keep their women slaves down. Allegedly it was punishment (given all women) for Eve disobeying God and eating the apple.

All Abrahamic religions are very patriarichal. That's the real reason why, of course. There is not, in my opinion, any true *spiritual* reason for this.

Answer 5

The issue of blood is the reason.

When women give birth, their blood is spilled, so they must atone.

When a female baby is born, the mother's hormones often result in the female infant experiencing a type of false menstrual bleeding as well.

Two issues of blood ... two atonements.

Simple!

Answer 6

I have no idea were you are getting your information. I have never seen that in the bible, nor have I ever seen it referenced in any piece of literature concerning biblical facts and beliefs. Is this your interpretation of a piece of scripture?, and if so what scripture?Please understand that all have to atone for their sins.

Answer 7

That´s biblic sexism for you my friend. Women were totally under a yoke. How best to control someone but to instill guilt, I ask you? It´s as nasty as it´s obsolete.

Answer 8

God does NOT require such , and I for one admire , respect ,and love all my sisters.

Answer 9

...why that's pretty mean of god, isn't it?...