Days of Purification
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Luke 2:22)—the period prescribed after childbirth in Leviticus 12. After the birth of a son the mother completed forty days before bringing the required offering; after a daughter the period was eighty days. A lamb was prescribed for a burnt offering and a pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering, but a poor family could bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons. Luke records that Mary and Joseph brought the offering permitted to the poor and presented the firstborn Jesus to the Lord (Luke 2:22-24; compare Exod. 13:2, 12-15).
The plural “their purification” in many manuscripts has generated discussion, since the Mosaic rite concerns the mother, while Luke joins the purification with the presentation of the child.