“Neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord” (1 Cor 11:11).
Our last study discussed the mother’s responsibility after giving birth to a boy. We concluded with the first half of Psalm 127:3, “Children are a heritage from the Lord.” Now, as we turn to the birth of a baby girl, here’s the second half of that verse: “The fruit of the womb is a reward.” Interestingly, for a female child, the periods of impurity and for purification were doubled. The text reads as follows: “But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her customary impurity, and she shall continue in the blood of her purification sixty-six days” (Lev 12:5). This double time for a female child was a matter of much rabbinical debate. Their ideas are creative, to say the least. One rabbi explained that Eve was a week later in entering Eden than Adam! Pure imagination. Or how about the idea that man received one curse (concerning the ground), but Eve had two (regarding her children and her husband). Another said the extra time was for the woman to repent of cursing that she hadn’t borne a boy! I also examined scores of Christian commentaries and didn’t find any that witnessed to my spirit. May I make a suggestion? The male child, although putting his mother through a shorter period of isolation, was himself incised on the eighth day, emphasizing his part in recognizing children as the Lord’s heritage. But now the mother of a girl is said to be bearing “the fruit of the womb.” Miracle within a miracle—in giving life to her daughter, she is also giving life to another life-giver! The little girl already has the eggs for children within! God has prepared this little one to grow into motherhood, also reaping this “reward.” Whatever the case, God wanted the offerings for boys and girls to be identical!