{"id": "card_n_c380d5c3c362", "kind": "note", "title": "Easton: Birth", "body": "As soon as a child was born it was washed, and rubbed with salt (Ezek. 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 (Lev. 12:1-8; Luke 2:22). A son was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth, being thereby consecrated to God (Gen. 17:10-12; comp. Rom. 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 (Isa. 13:8; Jer. 4:31; John 16:21, 22). The natural birth is referred to as the emblem of the new birth (John 3:3-8; Gal. 6:15; Titus 3:5, etc.).", "source": {"label": "Matthew Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary (1897)", "url": "/encyclopedia.html?ref=Birth", "ref": "Birth", "authority_tier": "external_aligned"}, "shelf": "dictionary", "box": "easton_concept_a_d", "bands": ["easton", "bible_dictionary", "concept"], "connections": [{"to_card_id": "card_n_ee545b228696", "relationship": "cites", "via_connection_card_id": "card_c_703a03bfc97c"}, {"to_card_id": "card_n_17f4e723f672", "relationship": "cites", "via_connection_card_id": "card_c_8ff0b54da833"}, {"to_card_id": "card_n_59aff31da66d", "relationship": "cites", "via_connection_card_id": "card_c_c4482bb86f1c"}], "author": "engine", "created_at": "2026-05-19T13:08:58.729968+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-05-19T19:50:28.912881+00:00", "visibility": "public", "lifecycle_stage": "public", "volatility": "permanent", "metrics": {"paperclips_count": 0, "helpful_count": 0, "not_helpful_count": 0, "cite_count": 6, "walks_through_count": 0, "flagged_count": 0}, "source_hash": "756ec31f589d6a80c1ccfe3b0a6bf4a1558cf0be596ed84c6d119a2625d8f4c2", "witnesses": [{"class": "manuscript_tradition", "label": "Original 1897 publication — Thomas Nelson, London", "ref": "Easton-1897"}, {"class": "republication", "label": "Project Gutenberg — Easton's Bible Dictionary", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45696", "ref": "PG-45696"}, {"class": "republication", "label": "Internet Archive — multiple scans", "url": "https://archive.org/details/eastonsillustra00east", "ref": "IA-Easton"}, {"class": "republication", "label": "CCEL — Easton's Bible Dictionary", "url": "https://www.ccel.org/e/easton/ebd/", "ref": "CCEL-Easton"}, {"class": "republication", "label": "Blue Letter Bible — searchable Easton's", "url": "https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/easton/", "ref": "BLB-Easton"}], "witness_status": "passed", "witness_status_reason": "5 witnesses across 2 independence classes: ['manuscript_tradition', 'republication']", "surface": "secular"}