'Childbirth' in the Bible
Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath (Bethlehem), Rachel began to give birth and had difficulty and suffered severely.
Panic seized them there,And pain, as that of a woman in childbirth.
They [of Babylon] will be shocked and terrified,Pains and anguish will grip them;They will be in pain like a woman in childbirth.They will stare aghast and horrified at one another,Their faces aflame [from the effects of the unprecedented warfare].
Therefore [continues Isaiah] my loins are filled with anguish;Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in childbirth;I am so bent and bewildered that I cannot hear, I am so terrified that I cannot see.
We have heard the report of it;Our hands become limp and helpless.Anguish has gripped us,Pain like that of a woman in childbirth.
“O inhabitant of [Jerusalem, whose palaces are made from the cedars of] Lebanon,You who nest in the cedars,How you will groan and how miserable you will be when pains come on you,Pain like a woman in childbirth!
“Behold, I am bringing them from the north country,And I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth,Among them [will be] the blind and the lame,The woman with child and she who labors in childbirth, together;A great company, they will return here [to Jerusalem].
“Kerioth [and the cities] has been takenAnd the strongholds seized;And the hearts of the warriors of Moab in that dayShall be like the heart of a woman in childbirth.
Behold, He will mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread His wings against [the city of] Bozrah; and in that day the heart of the mighty warriors of Edom will be like the heart of a woman in childbirth.
“Damascus has become helpless;She has turned away to flee,Terror (panic) has seized her;Anguish and distress have gripped herLike a woman in childbirth.
“The king of Babylon has heard the report about them,And his hands fall limp and helpless;Anguish has seized him,And agony like that of a woman in childbirth.
In you men have uncovered their fathers’ nakedness [the nakedness of mother or stepmother]; in you they have violated women who are [set apart as ceremonially] unclean during their menstrual impurity [or after childbirth].
The pains of childbirth come on him;But he is not a wise son,For it is not the time to delay [his chance at a new birth] as the womb opens [but he ignores the opportunity to change].
“Writhe in pain and labor to give birth,O Daughter of Zion,Like a woman in childbirth;For now you shall go out of the city,Live in the field,And go to Babylon.There you will be rescued;There the Lord shall redeem youFrom the hand of your enemies.