Both the New Testament and Old Testament are filled with their fair share of crazy, but for this Tuesday’s Crazy Bible Verse, I head back into the Old Testament into the book of Leviticus.
“If she gives birth to a daughter, for two weeks the woman will be unclean, as during her period. Then she must wait sixty-six days to be purified from her bleeding.” – Leviticus 12:5
This particular chapter discusses how to purify oneself after childbirth. To purify after the birth of a daughter, the woman must wait two weeks to become clean and then 66 days to be purified. Why is this crazy? Because right before this it is discussed that a woman who gives birth to a SON only has to wait 7 days to be clean and 33 days to be purified.
The simple act of bearing a daughter instead of a son doubles the time to be clean and purified. Don’t you just love the misogyny in the Bible? Whoever thought that a baby born without a penis could require a mother to wait double the time to become clean and pure again? Sigh.