H2256b H2256b
Pain, pang, especially birth-pangs; a prophetic metaphor for the anguish of nations and the crisis of redemption.
Distinguished from its homonym meaning 'cord' or 'territory,' this hevel denotes sharp pain, particularly the pangs of childbirth. The prophets seize on labor pain as the supreme image for overwhelming, purposeful anguish: Isaiah describes nations seized by pangs 'like a woman in labor' (Isa 13:8), and Hosea warns that the pains of a travailing woman come upon Ephraim (Hos 13:13). Yet birth-pangs point beyond suffering to new life -- Isaiah 66:7 marvels that Zion brought forth before her pains came. In Job, the word appears both literally of animals giving birth (39:3) and metaphorically of human calamity (21:17).
Senses
1. pain, pang, birth-pang — Pain or pang, especially the sharp, rhythmic agony of childbirth, used almost exclusively in prophetic texts as a metaphor for intense national or eschatological suffering. Spanish 'dolores' and 'dolores de' capture the plural pangs, while French and German preserve the Hebrew forms alongside contextual translations. The metaphor carries a double edge: labor pain signals both crisis and coming deliverance. Key passages include Isaiah 13:8 (pangs seizing Babylon), Isaiah 26:17 (Israel writhing before YHWH), Hosea 13:13 (Ephraim as an unwise son who will not emerge from the birth canal), and the startling reversal in Isaiah 66:7 where Zion delivers before the pangs arrive. 9×
AR["أَوْجَاعٌ", "الْمَخَاضِ", "حِبَالًا", "فِي-مَخَاضَاتِهَا", "مَخاضُ", "مَخَاضٌ", "مَخَاضَهُنَّ", "وَ-آلَامٌ", "وَآلَامٌ"]·ben["এবং-প্রসব-বেদনা", "ও-প্রসব-বেদনা", "তাদের-প্রসব-বেদনাগুলি", "তার-বেদনায়", "দুঃখ", "যন্ত্রণা"]·DE["[בחבליה]", "[וחבלים]", "[חבל]", "[חבלי]", "[חבליהם]", "[חבלים]"]·EN["and-pains", "in-her-pangs", "labor-pain", "pangs", "pangs-of", "their-labor-pains"]·FR["[בחבליה]", "[וחבלים]", "[חבל]", "[חבלים]", "corde", "leur-חבליהם-eux", "חבלים"]·heb["ב-חבליה", "ו-חבלים", "חבל", "חבלי", "חבליהם", "חבלים"]·HI["उनकी-पीड़ाएं", "और-दर्द", "और-पीड़ाएं", "दर्द", "पीड़ाएँ", "पीड़ाएं", "में-पीड़ाओं-अपनी"]·ID["dalam-kesakitan-melahirkannya", "dan-kesakitan", "dan-penderitaan", "kesakitan", "kesakitan-kesakitan", "sakit-bersalin", "sakit-sakit mereka"]·IT["[חבלי]", "e-regione", "loro-fatica-pains-loro", "pangs", "regione"]·jav["ing-larakipun", "kasangsaran", "lan-kasusahan", "lan-laran-laran", "laranipun", "sakit-ipun", "sakit-mbabar"]·KO["고통들을", "그것들-의-진통을", "그리고-산고가", "그의-산고-속에서", "산고가", "산고들이", "진통들이", "진통이"]·PT["Dores-de", "dor", "dores", "e-angústias", "e-dores", "em-suas-dores", "suas-dores"]·RU["в-схватках-её", "и-муки", "муки", "муки-их", "скорби", "схватки"]·ES["dolores", "dolores-de", "en-sus-dolores", "sus-dolores", "y-angustias", "y-dolores"]·SW["kamba", "katika-uchungu-wake", "maumivu", "maumivu-ya", "maumivu-yao", "na-maumivu", "na-uchungu", "uchungu"]·TR["ağrılar", "sancillarinda", "sancı", "sancılar", "sancıları", "sancılarını", "sıkıntılar", "ve-agrilar", "ve-sancılar"]·urd["اور-تکلیفیں", "اور-درد", "اُن-کے-درد", "اپنے-دردوں-میں", "درد", "دردہائے-زچگی-کی", "دردیں"]
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
† חֵ֫בֶל n.m. Is 66:7 (but v. Je 49:24) pain, pang;—ח׳ abs. Is 66:7; elsewhere pl. חֲבָלִים Is 13:8 + 3 times + Jb 21:17 v. infr.; cstr. חֶבְלֵי Ho 13:13; sf. חֲבָלֶיהָ Is 26:17; חֶבְלֵיהֶם Jb 39:3 (on sf. v. Ges§ 135, 5, R 1);—pain, pang: 1. pains of travail: a. obj. of תְּשַׁלַּחְנָה Jb 39:3 meton. for offspring (‖ יַלְדֵיהֶן; v. Di; of goats and hinds). b. sim. of distress of exiles Is 26:17;…