Micah 4:9 (WEB)
Now why do you cry out aloud? Is there no king in you? Has your counselor perished, that pains have taken hold of you as of a woman in travail?
As quoted in the map (KJV)
Micah 4:9–10 (KJV)
9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail. 10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.
Key words
- בַּת־צִיּוֹןbat-Tsiyyon · Hebrew
- 'daughter of Zion' — Jerusalem personified as a woman.
- חִיל כַּיּוֹלֵדָהchil kayyoledah · Hebrew
- 'pangs as of a woman in travail' — the labour pains of Zion.
- גָּאַלga'al · Hebrew
- 'redeem' (v. 10) — the labour ends in deliverance and redemption.
Why it matters
Daughter Zion cries out in labour pains, is told to travail, and is promised that at the end of her pangs the LORD will redeem her. Pitre traces the Jewish idea of the 'birth pangs of the Messiah' to prophecies like this: suffering that gives birth to a redeemed people. The Woman in labour in Revelation 12 and Mary's travail at the cross stand in this tradition.