Revelation 12:2 - Exposition

And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. The present, "crieth," κρὰζει , is found in א , A, P, Coptic, Andreas in a et bav., etc.; the imperfect, ἐκράζεν , is read in C, Vulgate, 7, 8, 31, etc., Andreas in c et p , Primasius; the aorist, ἐκράζεν , in B, twelve cursives (cf. the words of our Lord in John 16:21 , John 16:22 ). A similar image occurs in Isaiah 26:17 ; Isaiah 66:7 , Isaiah 66:8 ; Micah 4:10 . The trouble which afflicted the Jewish Church, and the longing of the patriarchs for the advent of the Saviour, are here depicted. So also St. Paul, encouraging the Romans to bear patiently their sufferings, says, "The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now" ( Romans 8:22 ).