Luke 2:22-24

2. The presentation: Luke 2:22-38.

And first the sacrifice, Luke 2:22-24. After the circumcision there were two other rites to observe. One concerned the mother. Levitically unclean for eight days after the birth of a son, and for fourteen days after that of a daughter, the Israelitish mother, after a seclusion of thirty-three days in the first case, and of double this time in the second, had to offer in the temple a sacrifice of purification (Leviticus 12). The other rite had reference to the child; when it was a first-born, it had to be redeemed by a sum of money from consecration to the service of God and the sanctuary. In fact, the tribe of Levi had been chosen for this office simply to take the place of the first-born males of all the families of Israel; and in order to keep alive a feeling of His rights in the hearts of the people, God had fixed a ransom to be paid for every first-born male. It was five shekels, or, reckoning the shekel at 2 Samuel 4 d., nearly 12s. (Exodus 13:2; Numbers 8:16; Num 18:15).

Vers. 22 and 23 refer to the ransom of the child; Luke 2:24 to Mary's sacrifice. Αὐτῶν, their purification, is certainly the true reading. This pronoun refers primarily to Mary, then to Joseph, who is, as it were, involved in her uncleanness, and obliged to go up with her. Every detail of the narrative is justified with the greatest care in the three verses by a legal prescription.

The sacrifice for the mother (Luke 2:24) consisted properly of the offering of a lamb as a sin-offering. But when the family was poor, the offering was limited to a pair of pigeons or two turtle-doves (Lev 12:8).