Luke 2:22 — Her Purification or Their Purification? The Pronoun and the Law of Moses

Passage

Luke 2:22

Issue

The received text has the feminine singular “her purification,” matching Leviticus 12 and the Authorized Version. The critical text reads “their purification,” a plural whose reference has prompted several explanations.

Variant class

Punctuation

Greek reading

“The days of her purification” (τοῦ καθαρισμοῦ αὐτῆς).

Authorized Version

“And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem.” — Luke 2:22

Edition note

The Research Center uses the received Greek text underlying the Authorized Version as its baseline; edition-specific differences are recorded when the variation unit requires them.

NA28 baseline reading

“The days of their purification” (τοῦ καθαρισμοῦ αὐτῶν); other minor pronoun forms also occur.

Translation or explanation

“The days of their purification” (τοῦ καθαρισμοῦ αὐτῶν); other minor pronoun forms also occur.

Effect class

Weakening of explicit biblical testimony

Exact proposition affected

The virginal conception and birth of Jesus Christ.

Doctrinal analysis

The received form can thus be explained as legal or theological clarification. The doctrine is secure from the virgin conception, his holiness at birth, and his entire life. This is exactly why doctrinal calm aids textual judgment.

External and historical evidence

The Authorized Version therefore reads naturally: “the days of her purification.”

Internal and transcriptional evidence

A scribe who knew the law could correct “their” to “her.” Verse 24 cites the sacrifice prescribed for the mother in Leviticus, while verse 23 separately quotes the law of the firstborn. Copyists also faced an apparent mismatch: plural “days” stands near a singular genitive, though the grammar is perfectly normal because the purification, not the days, belongs to Mary.

Reception and ecclesiastical use

The received reading and its ecclesiastical use require passage-specific documentation; the age of a witness and the age of a reading must not be confused.

Providential-preservation analysis

Providential preservation is not used as a substitute for evidence at Luke 2:22. It supplies the confessional context in which manuscript transmission, broad reception, and the church's actual possession of Scripture are evaluated together.

Canonical coherence with the rest of Scripture

Canonical coherence remains an explicit test: a proposed reading must make grammatical and theological sense within the immediate context and the rest of Scripture. No conflict is asserted merely because two editions differ; the claimed incoherence must be demonstrated at this passage.

Canonical-coherence verdict

The Authorized Version is retained where its representation of the TR forms a coherent reading within the immediate context and the rest of Scripture. Any competing form must demonstrate an equal or better canonical fit rather than merely invoke an edition or method label.

Response to the principal critical argument

Editorial status: Preliminary record accepted for staging; independent review remains pending. The critical text’s “their purification” is harder. The difficulty gives the plural a familiar critical advantage.

Conclusion

The received feminine should be retained. It states the Mosaic requirement with precision and agrees with Luke’s subsequent division of the legal texts. Its purpose is not to rescue Christ’s sinlessness from a dangerous plural; the critical wording need not accuse him of impurity. The doctrine is secure from the virgin conception, his holiness at birth, and his entire life.

This is exactly why doctrinal calm aids textual judgment. Once “their” is not caricatured as heresy, the evidence can be weighed on its own terms. The law names the mother’s purification, and Luke’s received pronoun names her. Joseph and Mary then present the Holy One who needed no cleansing yet submitted fully to the covenant order into which he was born.