13:8 They panic –
cramps and pain seize hold of them
like those of a woman who is straining to give birth.
They look at one another in astonishment;
their faces are flushed red. 1
21:3 For this reason my stomach churns; 2
cramps overwhelm me
like the contractions of a woman in labor.
I am disturbed 3 by what I hear,
horrified by what I see.
26:17 As when a pregnant woman gets ready to deliver
and strains and cries out because of her labor pains,
so were we because of you, O Lord.
22:23 You may feel as secure as a bird
nesting in the cedars of Lebanon.
But oh how you 4 will groan 5 when the pains of judgment come on you.
They will be like those of a woman giving birth to a baby. 6
30:6 Ask yourselves this and consider it carefully: 7
Have you ever seen a man give birth to a baby?
Why then do I see all these strong men
grabbing their stomachs in pain like 8 a woman giving birth?
And why do their faces
turn so deathly pale?
50:43 The king of Babylon will become paralyzed with fear 9
when he hears news of their coming. 10
Anguish will grip him,
agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby. 11
1 tn Heb “their faces are faces of flames.” Their faces are flushed with fear and embarrassment.
2 tn Heb “my waist is filled with shaking [or “anguish”].”
3 tn Or perhaps, “bent over [in pain]”; cf. NRSV “I am bowed down.”
4 tn Heb “You who dwell in Lebanon, you who are nested in its cedars, how you….” The metaphor has been interpreted for the sake of clarity. The figure here has often been interpreted of the people of Jerusalem living in paneled houses or living in a city dominated by the temple and palace which were built from the cedars of Lebanon. Some even interpret this as a reference to the king who has been characterized as living in a cedar palace, in a veritable Lebanon (cf. vv. 6-7, 14 and see also the alternate interpretation of 21:13-14). However, the reference to “nesting in the cedars” and the earlier reference to “feeling secure” suggests that the figure is rather like that of Ezek 31:6 and Dan 4:12. See also Hab 2:9 where a related figure is used. The forms for “you who dwell” and “you who are nested” in the literal translation are feminine singular participles referring again to personified Jerusalem. (The written forms of these participles are to be explained as participles with a hireq campaginis according to GKC 253 §90.m. The use of the participle before the preposition is to be explained according to GKC 421 §130.a.)
5 tn The verb here should be identified as a Niphal perfect of the verb אָנַח (’anakh) with the א (aleph) left out (so BDB 336 s.v. חָנַן Niph and GKC 80 §23.f, n. 1). The form is already translated that way by the Greek, Latin, and Syriac versions.
6 sn This simile has already been used in Jer 4:31; 6:24 in conjunction with Zion/Jerusalem’s judgment.
7 tn Heb “Ask and see/consider.”
8 tn Heb “with their hands on their loins.” The word rendered “loins” refers to the area between the ribs and the thighs.
9 tn Heb “his hands will drop/hang limp.” For the meaning of this idiom see the translator’s note on 6:24.
10 tn Heb “The king of Babylon hears report of them and his hands hang limp.” The verbs are translated as future because the passage is prophetic and the verbs may be interpreted as prophetic perfects (the action viewed as if it were as good as done). In the parallel passage in 6:24 the verbs could be understood as present perfects because the passage could be viewed as in the present. Here it is future.
11 sn Compare Jer 6:22-24 where almost the same exact words as 50:41-43 are applied to the people of Judah. The repetition of prophecies here and in the following verses emphasizes the talionic nature of God’s punishment of Babylon; as they have done to others, so it will be done to them (cf. 25:14; 50:15).