G5604 G5604
Birth pangs or labor pains; figuratively, the anguished throes that precede a new era or deliverance.
Rooted in the physical agony of childbirth, this word extends powerfully into eschatological and theological metaphor. Jesus uses it in the Olivet Discourse (Matt 24:8, Mark 13:8) to describe wars and upheavals as merely the 'beginning of birth pains' — implying that present suffering is not purposeless but preludes something new. Paul echoes this in 1 Thessalonians 5:3, where sudden destruction comes like labor upon a pregnant woman. In Acts 2:24, Peter declares that God loosed the 'pangs of death,' possibly evoking the image of death in labor, unable to hold the risen Christ.
Senses
1. sense 1 — The acute pains of childbirth, used literally of labor and figuratively of intense suffering that precedes deliverance or a new age. In Matt 24:8 and Mark 13:8, Jesus calls apocalyptic tribulations the 'beginning of birth pains' (archē ōdinōn), suggesting inevitable intensification before the new creation arrives. Spanish renders this as 'dolores de parto,' French as 'douleur,' both preserving the childbirth metaphor. Acts 2:24 applies the image strikingly to death itself — God 'loosed the birth pangs of death' — portraying the resurrection as a delivery from death's grip. 4×
AR["أَوْجَاعَ", "المَخاضِ", "مَخَاضٍ"]·ben["প্রসব-বেদনার", "প্রসববেদনা", "বেদনাগুলি"]·DE["ὠδίνων", "ὠδὶν", "ὠδῖνας"]·EN["birth-pains", "birth-pang", "of-birth-pains"]·FR["douleur", "ὠδὶν"]·heb["חֲבָלִים", "חֶבְלֵי", "צִיר", "צִירִים"]·HI["इसलिए-कि", "पीड़ाओं-का", "प्रसव-पीड़ाओं-का", "प्रसव-पेएदअ"]·ID["penderitaan", "sakit-bersalin"]·IT["doglia-di-parto", "odinon", "ōdin"]·jav["lara-babar", "nglarani", "sangsara-ing-lair", "sangsara-lair"]·KO["그-", "산고의", "해산의-고통이"]·PT["de-dores", "dor-de-parto", "dores"]·RU["муки", "родовая-боль", "родовых-мук"]·ES["de-dolores", "de-dolores-de-parto", "dolor-de-parto", "dolores"]·SW["maumivu", "ndipo", "utungu", "wa-uchungu"]·TR["doğum-sancılarının", "doğum-sancısı", "sancıların", "sancılarını"]·urd["درد", "دردوں-کا", "دردوں-کی"]
Related Senses
H7200 1. Qal: to see, perceive (1257×)G4771 2. you (singular address) (1077×)H8085 1. Qal: hear, perceive aurally (921×)H0859a 1. you (2nd person masculine singular pronoun) (743×)H0398 1. eat (consume food) (697×)H4191 1. die (Qal: natural/general death) (645×)G3708 1. see, perceive visually (419×)G0191 1. hear, perceive sound (360×)H???? 3. (352×)G3708 2. behold, look (exclamatory) (256×)H7272 1. foot (body part) (236×)H8354 1. drink, consume liquid (209×)H3205 1. Qal active: bear/give birth (female subject) (204×)H3205 2. Qal active: beget/father (male subject) (198×)H2421 1. Qal: live, be alive (177×)H8085 2. Qal: listen, heed, pay attention (172×)H2416a 1. alive, living (state/attribute) (146×)H2416e 1. life, lifespan, lifetime (145×)G2198 1. be alive, have life (133×)H8193 1. lip, lips (body part) (123×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
Included with: ὠδίς (Refs, ῖνος, ἡ: Epic dialect dative plural ὠδίνεσσι Refs 3rd c.BC+: later nominative ὠδίν LXX+NT:— mostly in plural, pangs or throes of childbirth, πικρὰς ὠδῖνας ἔχουσαι Refs 8th c.BC+; τέκε.. ἐν μόναις ὠδῖσιν.. διδύμων σθένος υἱῶν at a single birth, Refs 5th c.BC+: also in singular, Refs 5th c.BC+ __2 in singular also, that which is born amid throes, child, παῖδα, φιλτάτην…