She was pregnant, and she cried out because of her labor pains and the 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.
- BSB She was pregnant and crying out in the pain and agony of giving birth.
- 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.
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, when she gives birth, has sorrow, because her time has come. But when she has delivered the child, she doesn’t remember the anguish any more, for the joy that a human being is born into the world.
- Gal 4:19My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ is formed in you —
- Rev 12:4His tail drew one third of the stars of the sky, and threw them to the earth. The dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.
- Isa 66:7–9“Before she travailed, she gave birth. Before her pain came, she delivered a son.
- Isa 53:11After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself; and he will bear their iniquities.
- Mic 5:3Therefore he will abandon them until the time that she who is in labor gives birth. Then the rest of his brothers will return to the children of Israel.
- Gal 4:27For it is written, “Rejoice, you barren who don’t bear. Break out and shout, you that don’t travail. For more are the children of the desolate than of her who has a husband.”
- Isa 54:1“Sing, barren, you who didn’t give birth; break out into singing, and cry aloud, you who did not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife,” says Yahweh.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.