She was pregnant and crying out in the pain and agony of giving birth.
Parallel translations
- WEB She was with child. She cried out in pain, laboring to give birth.
- KJV And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
- NKJV Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
- NASB and she was pregnant and she *cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.
- NLT She was pregnant, and she cried out because of her labor pains and the agony of giving birth.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The woman is pregnant and cries out in the pains of childbirth. God's people long and labor for the coming of the promised Messiah.
Overview
The birth pangs picture the anguish of God's people awaiting the Redeemer (compare Isaiah 26:17; Micah 5:2-3; Romans 8:22). Israel's whole history strained toward the birth of the Messiah amid suffering and longing. The imagery conveys both pain and hopeful expectation. It sets the stage for the great moment of redemptive history—the coming of Christ into a world opposed by the dragon.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- John 16:21A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.
- Gal 4:19My children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,
- Rev 12:4His tail swept a third of the stars from the sky, tossing them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, ready to devour her child as soon as she gave birth.
- Isa 66:7–9“Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before she was in pain, she delivered a boy.
- Isa 53:11After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities.
- Mic 5:3Therefore Israel will be abandoned until she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of His brothers will return to the children of Israel.
- Gal 4:27For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.”
- Isa 54:1“Shout for joy, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth in song and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD.
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Christ at the center
Revelation ends the story with the slain-yet-standing Lamb who is worthy, the Lion of Judah, the Alpha and Omega, the returning King who makes all things new and dwells with his people forever.
How Revelation 12:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.