For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.
I have heard a voice like a woman in labor, crying out in pain like someone giving birth to her first child. It's the voice of Jerusalem, weeping and reaching out her hands, saying, 'Oh no! I am exhausted because of all these killers around me.'
God is describing how He hears Jerusalem crying out in agony and terror, like a woman in childbirth, because the city is surrounded by violent enemies.
📚 Historical Context
This verse comes during Jeremiah's prophecies about the coming Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem around 586 BC. The prophet uses the metaphor of childbirth - one of the most intense forms of human suffering - to describe the terror and anguish that would come upon the city when enemy armies surrounded it. Jerusalem is personified as 'the daughter of Zion,' a common way of referring to the city and its people.
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