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: F13 T. Bab. Avoda Zara, fol. 8. 2. , of the sanhedrim removing from their usual place in the temple; and why they ceased from the beheading of the red heifer F14 Misn. Sota, c. 9. sect. 9. .