“But if she bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her separation: and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and six days.”
If she gives birth to a daughter, for two weeks the woman will be unclean, as during her period. Then she will wait sixty-six days to be purified from her bleeding. The birth of a daughter doubles the purification periods: two weeks of initial impurity (versus seven days for a son) and sixty-six days of secondary purification (versus thirty-three days for a son). The doubled periods for a daughter produce a total of eighty days from birth to full sanctuary access. The reason for the doubled periods is not stated and has been the subject of extensive discussion; the regulation communicates a distinction without explaining it.
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
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