Jeremiah 4:31

31 For I have heard a sound like a woman in labor, in anguish giving birth to her first child. It is the sound of the daughter of Tziyon gasping for breath as she spreads her hands: "Woe to me! Everything in me is so weary before the killers."

Jeremiah 4:31 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 4:31

For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail
So the distress of the Jews, at the time of their destruction, is compared to the sorrows of a woman in travail; and a word, that signifies that is used to express it, ( Matthew 24:8 ) : and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child;
whose time is more difficult, her pains sharper, her anguish greater, and, having less experience, the more impatient: the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself;
her unhappy condition, and miserable circumstances: that spreadeth her hands;
as persons in distress do, and particularly women in travail: saying, woe is me now, for my soul is wearied because of murderers:
these abounded: under the second temple, and was the reason, the Jews say: {m}, of the sanhedrim removing from their usual place in the temple; and why they ceased from the beheading of the red heifer ^F14.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 T. Bab. Avoda Zara, fol. 8. 2.
F14 Misn. Sota, c. 9. sect. 9.

Jeremiah 4:31 In-Context

29 At the noise of the horsemen and archers, the entire city flees - some plunge into thickets; others climb rocks; all cities are deserted; no one lives there.

30 And you, who are doomed to be plundered, what do you mean by putting on crimson, decking yourselves with jewels and gold, enlarging your eyes with eye make-up? You beautify yourself in vain - your lovers despise you, they seek your life!

31 For I have heard a sound like a woman in labor, in anguish giving birth to her first child. It is the sound of the daughter of Tziyon gasping for breath as she spreads her hands: "Woe to me! Everything in me is so weary before the killers."