Christian Standard Bible
Revelation 12:2
2She was pregnant and cried out in labor and agony as she was about to give birth.
Revelation 12:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
- New International Version (NIV)She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.
- English Standard Version (ESV)She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
Context of Revelation 12:2
1A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in labor and agony as she was about to give birth. 3Then another sign appeared in heaven: There was a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven crowns. 4Its tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth it might devour her child.
Read all of Revelation 12Revelation 12:2 word by word
καὶ ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχουσα, καὶ κράζει ὠδίνουσα καὶ βασανιζομένη τεκεῖν.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Revelation 12:2
- Revelation 12:4Its tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth it might devour her child.
- Isaiah 53:11After his anguish, he will see light and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many, and he will carry their iniquities.
- Isaiah 54:1“Rejoice, childless one, who did not give birth; burst into song and shout, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.
- Isaiah 66:7Before Zion was in labor, she gave birth; before she was in pain, she delivered a boy.
- Micah 5:3Therefore, Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of the ruler’s brothers will return to the people of Israel.
- John 16:21When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world.
- Galatians 4:19My children, I am again suffering labor pains for you until Christ is formed in you.
Commentaries on Revelation 12:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, etc. - This, when taken in connection with the following verses, is a striking figure of the great persecution which the Church of Christ should suffer under the heathen Roman emperors, but more especially of that long and most dreadful one under Diocletian. The woman is represented as Being with child, to show that the time would speedily arrive when God's patient forbearance with the heathen would be…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2And she being with child cried, travailing in birth - That is, there would be something which would be properly represented by a woman in such circumstances. The question now is, what is referred to by this woman? And here it need hardly be said that there has been, as in regard to almost every other part of the Book of Revelation, a great variety of interpretations. It would be endless to undertake to examine them, and would not be profitable if it…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2The symbolic woman experiencing the pain of labor represents Christ’s birth. This reflects the biblical theme of Israel’s struggle while waiting for deliverance (see Isaiah 26:16–18; Jeremiah 4:31; Micah 4:9–10; John 16:21).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. pained--Greek, "tormented" (basanizomene). De Burgh explains this of the bringing in of the first-begotten into the world AGAIN, when Israel shall at last welcome Him, and when "the man-child shall rule all nations with the rod of iron." But there is a plain contrast between the painful travailing of the woman here, and Christ's second coming to the Jewish Church, the believing remnant of Israel, "Before she travailed she brought forth ... a…Read the comment
Topics related to Revelation 12:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Revelation 12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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