Imamat 12:2

12:2 “Tell the Israelites, ‘When a woman produces offspring ¹  and bears a male child, ²  she will be unclean seven days, as she is unclean during the days of her menstruation. ³ 

Imamat 13:3

13:3 The priest must then examine the infection ⁴  on the skin of the body, and if the hair ⁵  in the infection has turned white and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of the body, ⁶  then it is a diseased infection, ⁷  so when the priest examines it ⁸  he must pronounce the person unclean. ⁹ 

[12:2]  ¹ tn Heb “produces seed” (Hiphil of זָרַע, zara’; used only elsewhere in Gen 1:11-12 for plants “producing” their own “seed”), referring to the process of childbearing as a whole, from conception to the time of birth (H. D. Preuss, TDOT 4:144; cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 164-65; and J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:742-43). Smr and LXX have Niphal “be impregnated” (see, e.g., Num 5:28); note KJV “If a woman have conceived seed” (cf. ASV, NAB, NRSV; also NIV, NLT “becomes pregnant”).

[12:2]  ² sn The regulations for the “male child” in vv. 2-4 contrast with those for the “female child” in v. 5 (see the note there).

[12:2]  ³ tn Heb “as the days of the menstrual flow [nom.] of her menstruating [q. inf.] she shall be unclean” (R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:925-26; the verb appears only in this verse in the OT). Cf. NASB “as in the days of her menstruation”; NLT “during her menstrual period”; NIV “during her monthly period.”

[12:2]  sn See Lev 15:19-24 for the standard purity regulations for a woman’s menstrual period.

[13:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the priest shall see the infection.”

[13:3]  ⁵ tn There is no “if” expressed, but the contrast between the priestly finding in this verse and the next verse clearly implies it.

[13:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “and the appearance of the infection is deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, “deeper than”) the skin of the his flesh.” See the note on v. 20 below.

[13:3]  ⁷ tn For the translation “diseased infection” see the note on v. 2 above. Cf. TEV “a dreaded skin disease”; NIV “an infectious skin disease”; NLT “a contagious skin disease.”

[13:3]  ⁸ tn The pronoun “it” here refers to the “infection,” not the person who has the infection (cf. the object of “examine” at the beginning of the verse).

[13:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “he shall make him unclean.” The verb is the Piel of טָמֵא (tame’) “to be unclean.” Here it is a so-called “declarative” Piel (i.e., “to declare unclean”), but it also implies that the person is put into the category of actually being “unclean” by the pronouncement itself (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 175; cf. the corresponding opposite in v. 6 below).