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12 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days.
“And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering, and he shall offer it before the LORD and make atonement for her. Then she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, either male or female. And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.”
(ESV)
After bearing a child, a woman was considered contagiously unclean for one to two weeks. One day 8, when a boy would be circumcised, the childbearing mother was no longer contagious but still had to refrain from touching anything considered holy. The period of purification was different depending on the sex of the child. In the case of a boy, that time frame lasted 40 days, but if it was a girl, it lasted 80 days. The question many of us will ask is, “Why?”
Some commentators have suggested that decaying corpses emit a discharge so any form of discharge that comes from the body is a symbol of sin and death. Others have suggested that a bleeding body lacks wholeness, therefore, it is unclean.
“Loss of blood can lead to death, the antithesis of normal healthy life. Anyone losing blood is at least in danger of becoming less than perfect and therefore unclean. Thus blood is at once the most effective ritual cleanser (“the blood makes atonement,” Gen 17:11) and the most polluting substance when it is in the wrong place. This is profound. Our greatest woes result from the corruption of our highest good, e.g., speech, sex, technology, atomic power.”
New International Commentary – Old Testament
The ritual mentioned here in Leviticus is also found in the NT after Jesus’ birth.
And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “EVERY firstborn MALE THAT OPENS THE WOMB SHALL BE CALLED HOLY TO THE LORD”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, “A PAIR OF TURTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG PIGEONS.”
Luke 2:22-24 NASB
The fact that Jesus’ family chose turtledoves or pigeons reveals they did not have the money to buy a lamb. It’s interesting that the purification ceremony served as a reminder that we are all born in sin, yet, Jesus was born sinless. Jesus technically could have been excused, but at every level of His humanity, He identified with sinners. This case was no different.