Jeremiah 4:31

4:31 In fact, ¹  I hear a cry like that of a woman in labor,

a cry of anguish like that of a woman giving birth to her first baby.

It is the cry of Daughter Zion ²  gasping for breath,

reaching out for help, ³  saying, “I am done in! ⁴ 

My life is ebbing away before these murderers!”

Jeremiah 6:24

6:24 The people cry out, ⁵  “We have heard reports about them!

We have become helpless with fear! ⁶ 

Anguish grips us,

agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby!

Jeremiah 30:6

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?

Jeremiah 48:41

48:41 Her towns ⁹  will be captured.

Her fortresses will be taken.

At that time the soldiers of Moab will be frightened

like a woman in labor. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 13:8

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. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 21:3

21:3 For this reason my stomach churns; ¹² 

cramps overwhelm me

like the contractions of a woman in labor.

I am disturbed ¹³  by what I hear,

horrified by what I see.

Isaiah 21:1

The Lord Will Judge Babylon

21:1 Here is a message about the Desert by the Sea: ¹⁴ 

Like strong winds blowing in the south, ¹⁵ 

one invades from the desert,

from a land that is feared.

Isaiah 5:3

5:3 So now, residents of Jerusalem, ¹⁶ 

people ¹⁷  of Judah,

you decide between me and my vineyard!

[4:31]  ¹ tn The particle כִּי (ki) is more likely asseverative here than causal.

[4:31]  ² sn Jerusalem is personified as a helpless maiden.

[4:31]  ³ tn Heb “spreading out her hands.” The idea of asking or pleading for help is implicit in the figure.

[4:31]  ⁴ tn Heb “Woe, now to me!” See the translator’s note on 4:13 for the usage of “Woe to…”

[6:24]  ⁵ tn These words are not in the text, but, from the context, someone other than God is speaking and is speaking for and to the people (either Jeremiah or the people themselves). These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:24]  ⁶ tn Or “We have lost our strength to do battle”; Heb “Our hands hang limp [or helpless at our sides].” According to BDB 951 s.v. רָפָה Qal.2, this idiom is used figuratively for losing heart or energy. The best example of its figurative use of loss of strength or the feeling of helplessness is in Ezek 21:12 where it appears in the context of the heart (courage) melting, the spirit sinking, and the knees becoming like water. For other examples compare 2 Sam 4:1; Zeph 3:16. In Neh 6:9 it is used literally of the builders “dropping their hands from the work” out of fear. The words “with fear” are supplied in the translation because they are implicit in the context.

[30:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “Ask and see/consider.”

[30:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “with their hands on their loins.” The word rendered “loins” refers to the area between the ribs and the thighs.

[48:41]  ⁹ tn Parallelism argues that the word קְרִיּוֹת (qÿriyyot) be understood as the otherwise unattested feminine plural of the noun קִרְיָה (qiryah, “city”) rather than the place name Kerioth mentioned in v. 24 (cf. HALOT 1065 s.v. קִרְיָה). Both this noun and the parallel term “fortresses” are plural but are found with feminine singular verbs, being treated either as collectives or distributive plurals (cf. GKC 462-63 §145.c or 464 §145.l).

[48:41]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “The heart of the soldiers of Moab will be like the heart of a woman in labor.”

[13:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “their faces are faces of flames.” Their faces are flushed with fear and embarrassment.

[21:3]  ¹² tn Heb “my waist is filled with shaking [or “anguish”].”

[21:3]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps, “bent over [in pain]”; cf. NRSV “I am bowed down.”

[21:1]  ¹⁴ sn The phrase is quite cryptic, at least to the modern reader. Verse 9 seems to indicate that this message pertains to Babylon. Southern Mesopotamia was known as the Sealand in ancient times, because of its proximity to the Persian Gulf. Perhaps the reference to Babylon as a “desert” foreshadows the destruction that would overtake the city, making it like a desolate desert.

[21:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “in the Negev” (NASB).

[5:3]  ¹⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “men,” but in a generic sense.