Devine Scripture

Revelation 12:2

What does Revelation 12:2 mean?

A plain-English look at Revelation 12:2 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Revelation 12:2 means

The woman is pregnant and in the agony of labor. The image conveys expectation and suffering that precede the fulfillment of God’s promises. It pictures the longing of the covenant people, who for generations awaited the coming of the promised Deliverer, and the real pains that accompany the birth of God’s purposes in the world. The focus is not on biological detail but on the spiritual tension: God’s plan is about to break into history through great travail. This verse reminds us that redemption does not arrive without cost or conflict. The child to be born is central to God’s saving work, and all heaven watches the moment approach.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

and she was with child; and she crieth out, travailing in birth, and in pain to be delivered.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

and she was with child; and she crieth out, travailing in birth, and in pain to be delivered.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

And she was with child; and she gave a cry, in the pains of childbirth.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

and being with child she doth cry out, travailing and pained to bring forth.

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

And being with child, she cried travailing in birth: and was in pain to be delivered.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

and being with child she cried, [being] in travail, and in pain to bring forth.

Context

Flowing from the sign of the glorious woman, verse 2 narrows the lens to her condition—near delivery. This heightens expectation and prepares for the adversary’s appearance in verse 3. The pain of birth signals that the fulfillment of promise comes through struggle. Immediately following, the chapter will reveal a hostile power poised to devour the child, intensifying the drama. Grasping this tension equips a first-time reader to see why the next images—dragon, danger, and divine rescue—are necessary in the story.

v.1And a great sign was seen in heaven: a woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars;

v.2This passage

v.3And there was seen another sign in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Micah 5:3

    Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she who travaileth hath brought forth: then the residue of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.

  • Galatians 4:27

    For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; Break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: For more are the children of the desolate than of her that hath the husband.

  • Galatians 4:19

    My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you—

  • Isaiah 53:11

    He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant justify many; and he shall bear their iniquities.

  • Revelation 12:4

    And his tail draweth the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon standeth before the woman that is about to be delivered, that when she is delivered he may devour her child.

  • John 16:21

    A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but when she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for the joy that a man is born into the world.

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