Leviticus 12, Dietary Laws and Purification after Childbirth

Lev. 11 distinguishes between clean and unclean animals.  Here is an overview.

·       11:1-8: Land animals.  Only those that both chew the cud and divide the hoof may be eaten.

·       11:9-12: Sea animals.  Only those with fins and scales are clean.

·       11:13-19: Birds.  All are clean except those listed (the unclean are carnivorous birds, scanvengers).

·       11:24-28; 31-40: Carcasses.  Anyone touching a carcass of a clean or unclean animal becomes unclean until evening and must be washed.

·       11:20-23,29-30; 41-43: Reptiles/Insects.  Basically all are unclean; insects with jointed legs are clean.

God is clear about the purpose of these things.  We can talk about the health and hygiene benefits, but the bottom line is that these laws demonstrate Israel’s special relationship with the LORD.  For I am the LORD your God.  You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. … For I am the LORD who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God.  You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy (v44-45).

We believe the use of “typology” is not possible here.  The NT considers these issues under the heading of “Christian liberty.”  These things do not typify Christ.  One writer suggested that the chewing of the cud and the cloven hoof referred to the need to digest the Word of God and to walk in the Word.  There is no basis for that kind of a view.  Here is the connection of this chapter with the NT:

·       Mark 7:1-23: Clean and unclean is redefined.  All foods are declared clean (7:19).  The heart is the issue, not the diet (7:20-23).

·       Acts 10:15: God used unclean foods to teach Peter to call nothing unclean that God had made clean.

·       1 Tim. 4:1-5: We are to give thanks for food, and then eat it.

·       1 Cor. 10:23-33: Everything we do, including eating, is for God’s glory.

·       1 Peter 1:13-16: We are also called to be holy, as was Israel.  But it is not through our diet.  The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17).

Chapter 12 deals with purification after childbirth.  What Mary and Joseph did with the infant Jesus is found in this chapter.  Again, as with the dietary laws, we see an emphasis on good health.  This cleanliness made Israel distinct from the nations.  I have been told that in the Middle Ages, during the black plague, many placed the blame on the Jews because they seemed to be much less affected by the disease.  In the end, their seeming immunity was the result of their cleanliness.  Even then they were shown to be distinct from the nations.

One question (12:3-5) has to do with the length of days of uncleanness: 40 days after the birth of a boy but 80 after the birth of a girl.  I do not have an answer that is made clear by the Scripture.  There is no known difference between the “impurity” after a girl's birth than a boy's.  We should remember that this impurity is not a matter of sin.  Nor are women being put down.  The very fact of these laws is part of God’s compassion on a mother after childbirth.  Eerdmans Handbook suggests this allowed for more boy births, necessary given how many men were killed in wars in that time period.  Possibly, but we have no certainty.