If
she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons; the 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.
Leviticus 12:8
Leviticus 12 [6.] “‘When the days of her purification are completed, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the door of the Tent of Meeting, a year old lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering: and he shall offer it before Yahweh, and make atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the fountain of her blood. “‘This is the law for her who bears, whether a male or a female.
Leviticus 12 [8.] If she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons; the 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.’”
Leviticus 13 [1.] Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “When a man shall have a rising in his body’s skin, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes in the skin of his body the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons, the priests: and the priest shall examine the plague in the skin of the body: and if the hair in the plague has turned white, and the appearance of the plague is deeper than the body’s skin, it is the plague of leprosy; and the priest shall examine him, and pronounce him unclean. If the bright spot is white in the skin of his body, and its appearance isn’t deeper than the skin, and its hair hasn’t turned white, then the priest shall isolate the infected person for seven days. The priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and, behold, if in his eyes the plague is arrested, and the plague hasn’t spread in the skin, then the priest shall isolate him for seven more days. The priest shall examine him again on the seventh day; and behold, if the plague has faded, and the plague hasn’t spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. It is a scab. He shall wash his clothes, and be clean. But if the scab spreads on the skin, after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall show himself to the priest again. The priest shall examine him; and behold, if the scab has spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is leprosy.
Meaning:
Leviticus 12 gives the law for a mother after childbirth. For a set time she was ceremonially unclean and could not enter the sanctuary. When those days were completed she was to bring “a year old lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering” (Leviticus 12:6). This verse adds a provision for families who could not afford a lamb.
- “If she cannot afford a lamb”
God’s law took poverty into account. A lamb was costly for a poor family, so birds were allowed instead. The same mercy appears elsewhere in Leviticus: “If he can’t afford a lamb, then he shall bring... two turtledoves, or two young pigeons” (Leviticus 5:7). No one was shut out from God’s presence because of poverty.
- “the one for a burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering”
The burnt offering expressed complete dedication to God; the sin offering dealt with impurity. Childbirth was not sinful, but the loss of blood made the mother ritually unclean. The offerings restored her to full fellowship in worship. Through them “the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.”
- Fulfilled in Luke 2
This is the verse Luke quotes when Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the temple: they came “to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, ‘A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons’” (Luke 2:24). Mary brought the offering of the poor. The Son of God grew up in a family that could not afford a lamb, yet he himself was the true Lamb. Paul wrote, “though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
- The significance today
God values the gift of the poor as much as the gift of the rich. Jesus praised a widow who gave two small coins, saying she “gave more than all those who are giving into the treasury” (Mark 12:43). And James asks, “Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith?” (James 2:5).
Cross-References:
Luke 2:24: "A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons." Mary’s offering at the temple.
Leviticus 5:7: "If he can’t afford a lamb," the same mercy for the poor.
2 Corinthians 8:9: "for your sakes he became poor," Christ’s poverty for us.
Conclusion: The law allowed a mother who could not afford a lamb to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons. Mary brought this offering of the poor when Jesus was presented in the temple. God’s law made room for the poor, and the Son of God himself was born into poverty.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible