Bible Dictionaries
Birth

Easton's Bible Dictionary

As soon as a child was born it was washed, and rubbed with salt (Ezekiel 16:4 ), and then swathed with bandages (Job 38:9; Luke 2:7,12 ). A Hebrew mother remained forty days in seclusion after the birth of a son, and after the birth of a daughter double that number of days. At the close of that period she entered into the tabernacle or temple and offered up a sacrifice of purification (Leviticus 12:1-8; Luke 2:22 ). A son was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth, being thereby consecrated to God (Genesis 17:10-12; Compare Romans 4:11 ). Seasons of misfortune are likened to the pains of a woman in travail, and seasons of prosperity to the joy that succeeds child-birth (Isaiah 13:8; Jeremiah 4:31; John 16:21,22 ). The natural birth is referred to as the emblem of the new birth (John 3:3-8; Galatians 6:15; Titus 3:5 , etc.).