trav ́ā́l (ילד, yāladh (Genesis 35:16, etc.), חוּל, ḥūl, חיל, ḥīl (properly “writhe,” Job 15:20, etc.); ὠδίν, ōdin (classical ōdís) (Matthew 24:8, etc.), ὠδίνω, ōdínō (Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 19:11, etc.; Galatians 4:19, etc.)): “Travail” and its derivatives are used in the primary sense of the labor of childbirth, descriptive of the actual cases of Rachel (Genesis 35:16), Tamar (Genesis 38:27), Ichabod’s mother (1 Samuel 4:19), and the apocalyptic woman clothed with the sun (Revelation 12:2). In the majority of passages, however, “travail” is used figuratively, to express extreme and painful sorrow (9 times in Jeremiah), “as of a woman in travail.” It is also employed in the sense of irksome and vexatious business (6 times in Ecclesiastes, where it is the rendering of the word ‛inyān). In the same book “travail” is used to express the toil of one’s daily occupation (Ecclesiastes 4:4, 4:6), where it is the translation of ‛āmāl. In three places (Exodus 18:8; Numbers 20:14; Lamentations 3:5) where the King James Version has “travel” the Revised Version has changed it to “travail,” as in these passages the word telā'āh refers to the sense of weariness and toil, rather than to the idea of journeying (in the King James Version the spellings “travel” and “travail” were used indiscriminately; compare Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 19:11; 31:5). The sorrows which are the fruits of wickedness are compared to the pain of travail in Job 15:20 (ḥūl) and Psalms 7:14 (ḥābhal), the word used here meaning the torture or twisting pains of labor; see also the fanciful employment of “travail” in Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 19:11.
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Author: International Std. Bible Encyclopedia
Keywords: Travail, Birthpang, Birth pang, Childbirth, labor, pain, toil
Bible reference(s): Job 15:20, Mat 24:8, Gal 4:19, Gen 35:16, Gen 38:27, 1Sa 4:19, Ecc 4:4, Exo 18:8, Num 20:14, Lam 3:5, Job 15:20, Psa 7:14, John 16:21, Rom 8:22, Gal 4:27, 1Th 2:9, 2Th 3:8
Source: James Orr (editor), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 5 volume set.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.