10. was saved: did save (6) has roughly the sense
'recovered from death,' but that idea is ironic: the Old Law (6) "can discover sin, but
not remove [it]" (Paradise Lost
12.290). Just as Moses cannot lead the Chosen People into Canaan (PL 12.307-309), so the unnamed
mother of lines 5-6 cannot be "saved" by ritual purification. In fact,
as the
concordance of Leviticus 12* and Luke 2:22-24** shows, the woman
"purified" by ritual law is a type:
the generic woman in Leviticus foreshadows Mary, the Mother of God.
*Lev 12:2,4,6-7,8: If a woman have conceived seed, and born a ...
child, then she shall be unclean. ... [and] shall continue in the blood
of her purifying ...; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into
the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled. ... when
the days of her purifying are fulfilled, ... she shall bring a lamb of
the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a
turtledove, for a sin offering, ... unto the priest, Who shall offer it
before the LORD, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be
cleansed from the issue of her blood. ... And if she be not able to
bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons.
**Lk 2:22,24 - when the days of [Mary’s] purification according to the
law of Moses were accomplished,[she and Joseph] brought [Jesus] to
Jerusalem, to present him to the LORD ... And to offer a sacrifice
according to that which is said in the law of the LORD, A pair of
turtledoves, or two young pigeons.