The idea
Micah 5:2–3 says three things: the coming ruler is a Davidic king from Bethlehem; he has a human mother, 'she who is in labor' (yoledah, the word for the sufferings of childbirth); and Israel as a whole will suffer before he comes, after which the people 'return' and he reigns 'to the ends of the earth' — the pattern of Micah 4:9–10, Jeremiah 30 and Isaiah 26. Later Judaism gave the pattern a name, 'the birth pangs of the Messiah' (heblo shel mashiah). In the Talmud, Rab reads Micah 5 of a coming period of tribulation, Ulla says, 'Let him come, but let me not see him,' and Rabbi Eleazar's disciples ask what to do 'to be spared the birth pangs of the Messiah.' Some rabbis were willing to miss the Messiah to avoid his birth pangs.
Key verses
- Micah 5:2 — the ruler from Bethlehem; 'she which travaileth' (v. 3).
- Micah 4:9 — Zion in labour before her redemption.
- Isaiah 26:17 — labour that issues in resurrection.
- Mark 13:8 — 'the beginning of birth pangs' — Jesus uses the idea.
The connection
| Old Testament root | New Testament fulfilment | |
|---|---|---|
| The birth pangs of the Messiah — Israel's tribulation before the king comes | → | Mary's travail at the cross, the tribulation that brings forth the redeemed |
The birth pangs of the Messiah were a Jewish category before they were a Christian one. Pitre's own earlier work traced it; here it lets him locate Mary's labour where the Jewish pattern would put it — in the sufferings before the age of salvation, that is, at the cross.
Sources
- Targums — Targum on Micah 5:1–3 (p 123) · read
- Babylonian Talmud — Sanhedrin 98b (pp 123–124) · read