Translation
and to present an offering according to what has been said in the Law of the LORD, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
Go to footnote numberParaphrase
and to present an offering according to what has been said in the Law of THE SUPREME RULER, which was, in the case of poor people like Joseph and Mary, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
Footnotes
1: “two young pigeons”
This was an exception, not the norm. As is explained in Leviticus chapter 12, the expected sacrifice was a lamb for a Burnt offering and a dove or pigeon for a sin offering. However, an exception was made for people who were poor; they could substitute a pigeon or dove for the lamb.
How did they keep people from claiming to be poor just to avoid the costlier sacrifice? Actually, it was social expectations and pressures that prevented that. It would be a disgrace to one’s family to claim to be poor if you were not poor. People would much prefer bringing a more costly sacrifice than bringing shame on their family.