Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 16:21
A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
21. A woman ] Or, The woman, like ‘the servant’ (Joh 15:15): in each case the article is generic, expressing the general law. The figure is frequent in O.T.; Isa 66:7; Hos 13:13; Mic 4:9. See on Mar 13:8.
for joy ] Better, for the joy, the joy peculiar to the case.
a man ] A human being, one of the noblest of God’s creatures.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 21. For joy that a man is born] is put here for a human creature, whether male or female; as homo among the Romans denoted either man or woman.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Our Lord compares the state of the church in this life, and more especially in those first and most furious times, to the state of a woman that is big with child, and in her travail; when, he saith, she hath sorrow, that is, great pain, because God, when he cursed the woman for her transgression, made this her portion, Gen 3:16, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and when her weeks are fulfilled, her hour is come to feel the effect of this curse, the fruit of the first womans transgression: but no sooner is she delivered of a child, but she forgetteth all her throes and pains, for joy of a child born into the world. Such (saith our Saviour to his disciples) is your state; you are as a woman in travail; so will all those that believe in me be, to the end of the world.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow,…. As was said she should have, Ge 3:16; This is God’s ordination and appointment for sin:
because her hour is come; is at hand; the fixed time in nature is up, and there is no avoiding it:
but as soon as she is delivered of the child; for though the sorrow is great, yet there is a deliverance, and she is saved in child bearing: when
she remembereth no more the anguish; the sharp pains she has endured in her travail;
for joy that a man is born into the world. Much such a way of speaking is used by the Jews z, who observe,
“if a woman brings forth a male child, all is forgot, and she repents (i.e. of her impatience, or any unbecoming expression in the time of labour), , “for the joy of a man child”.”
And our Lord seems to have respect to a prevailing notion among them, as well as many others, of the felicity of male children: it is a common saying with them a,
“blessed is he whose children are males, and woe to him whose children are females:”
for they say b,
“when , “that a man child comes into the world”, peace comes into the world.”
Now our Lord, by this instance, illustrates the sorrow his disciples should have by his departure, and the joy that they should be possessed of upon his return to them; that as the pains of a woman in travail are very sharp and severe, and the distress of her mind, about the issue of things respecting herself and offspring, is very great, so would be the grief and trouble of the disciples on account of the death of their Lord and master: but as when a woman is safely delivered of a man child, she is so filled with joy, that her sorrow is remembered no more so should it be with them, when Christ should appear to them; all their trouble, concern, anxiety of mind, and fears, that attended them, would all vanish away, and they be distressed with them no more.
z Tzeror Hammor, fol. 98. 2. a T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 65. 1. Kiddushin, fol. 82. 2. Bava Bathra, fol. 16. 2. Sanhedrin, fol. 100. 2. b T. Bab. Nidda, fol. 31. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
A woman ( ). “The woman,” any woman.
When she is in travail ( ). Indefinite temporal clause, “whenever she is about to bear (or give birth),” and present active subjunctive of , common O.T. image for pain.
Her hour is come ( ). Second aorist active indicative, timeless aorist, “her hour” for giving birth which she knows is like a living death.
But when she is delivered of the child ( ). Indefinite temporal clause with and first aorist active subjunctive of . “But whenever she bears the child.”
The anguish ( ). Genitive case after of , usual word for tribulation (Mt 13:21).
Is born (). First aorist (effective) passive indicative of .
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
A woman [ ] . Literally, the woman. The generic article marking the woman as representing her sex : woman as such.
She is in travail. A common Old Testament image of sorrow issuing in joy. See Isa 21:3; Isa 26:17; Isa 66:7; Hos 13:13; Mic 4:9, 10. The anguish [ ] . Commonly rendered affliction or tribulation in A. V. See on Mt 13:21.
Joy [ ] . Properly, the joy which answers to the anguish.
A man [] . See on 1 30.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow,” (he gune hotan tikte lupen echei) “When the woman gives birth she has grief,” or sorrow, as decreed from the fall of man, Gen 3:16. The “woman in travail” is a common Old Testament figure for terror-stricken-anguish, Jer 4:31; Jer 6:24; Psa 48:6.
2) “Because her hour is come:” (hoti elthen he hora autes) “Because her hour (of delivery) has arrived,” for her to bring forth in trembling pain, Isa 26:17. It is her critical or appointed time of delivery.
3) “But as soon as she is delivered of the child,” (hotan de gennese to paidion) “Then when she gives birth to the child,” when delivery is past, the sharp pangs are over.
4) “She remembereth no more the anguish,” (ouketi mnemoneuei tes thlipseos) “She no longer remembers the anguish, pain, or distress,” of the hour of birth-travail. The comparison is designed only to emphasize the sudden replacement of sorrow with joy in both cases.
5) “For joy that a man is born into the world.” (dia ton ten charan hoti egennethe anthropos eis ton kosmon) “Because of the joy that a man was and is born into the world.” The idea is that life’s greatest joy comes through sorrow; And the way to heaven’s joy comes through pain and suffering: First through the suffering and accursed death of Jesus Christ, Gal 3:13; 2Co 5:21; and second, His children’s greatest blessings and joy come through their suffering for His name’s sake, Mat 5:11-12; Joh 15:20-21; 2Ti 3:12.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
21. A woman, when she is in labor. He employs a comparison to confirm the statement which he had just now made, or rather, he expresses his meaning more clearly, that not only will their sorrow be turned into joy, but also that it contains in itself the ground and occasion of joy It frequently happens that, when adversity has been followed by prosperity, men forget their former grief, and give themselves up unreservedly to joy, and yet the grief which came before it is not the cause of the joy But Christ means that the sorrow which they shall endure for the sake of the Gospel will be profitable. Indeed, the result of all griefs cannot be otherwise than unfavorable, unless when they are blessed in Christ. But as the cross of Christ always contains in itself the victory, Christ justly compares the grief arising from it to the sorrow of a woman in labor, which receives its reward when the mother is cheered by the birth of the child. The comparison would not apply, if sorrow did not produce joy in the members of Christ, when they become partakers of his sufferings, just as the labor in the, woman is the cause of the birth. The comparison must also be applied in this respect, that though the sorrow of the woman is very severe, it quickly passes away. It was no small solace to the apostles, therefore, when they learned that their sorrow would not be of long duration.
We ought now to appropriate the use of this doctrine to ourselves. Having been regenerated by the Spirit of Christ, we ought to feel in ourselves such a joy as would remove every feeling of our distresses. We ought, I say, to resemble women in labor, on whom the mere sight of the child born produces such an impression, that their pain gives them pain no longer. But as we have received nothing more than the first-fruits, and these in very small measure, we scarcely taste a few drops of that spiritual gladness, to soothe our grief and alleviate its bitterness. And yet that small portion clearly shows that they who contemplate Christ by faith are so far from being at any time overwhelmed by grief, that, amidst their heaviest sufferings, they rejoice with exceeding great joy.
But since it is an obligation laid
on all creatures to labor till the last day of redemption, (Rom 8:22,)
let us know that we too must groan, until, having been delivered from the incessant afflictions of the present life, we obtain a full view of the fruit of our faith. To sum up the whole in a few words, believers are like women in labor, because, having been born again in Christ, they have not yet entered into the heavenly kingdom of God and a blessed life; and they are like pregnant women who are in childbirth, because, being still held captive in the prison of the flesh, they long for that blessed state which lies hidden under hope.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(21) A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow.The Greek is more exactly, the woman . . . hath pangsthat is, the woman in the well-known illustration. (See Note on Joh. 15:15.) This figure was of frequent use in the prophets. (Comp. Isa. 21:3; Isa. 26:17-18, and especially Isa. 66:7-8; Jer. 4:31; Jer. 22:23; Jer. 30:6; Hos. 13:13-14; Mic. 4:9-10.)
That a man is born into the world.The word is the wider word for human being. (Comp. Note on Joh. 1:51.) The thought is of the joy of maternity swallowing up the pangs of child-birth. These cease to exist, but that continues. She forgets the one in the fulness of the other.
For the phrase into the world comp. Joh. 1:9; Joh. 18:37.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
21. A woman hath sorrow A brief illustrative parable. It is plain that the woman stands for the apostles; her travail sorrow for their grief at Christ’s death; and the man child for Christ revealed at his resurrection. The best commentary upon this parable is furnished by John himself in Rev 12:1-5, where a woman brings forth a man child, who is caught up into the heaven to the throne of God; in which the woman represents the Church of God bringing forth a Saviour and ruler of the world. The literal basis of this figure is the birth of Christ from a pure virgin. Or, still farther back, it is Eve whose seed should bruise the serpent’s head. The woman thus symbolizing the Church is here represented by the apostles, who are the Church now in travail and overwhelmed with sorrow until the bringing forth of the glorified Christ. Then shall their very sorrow transform into joy.
Remembereth no more the anguish It is God’s great compensation that her sorrow shall be as if it never had been, and the whole thing becomes a joy.
A man is born A human being, according to the Greek, of either sex. In the midst of humiliation and sorrow, the birth of a human immortal is a most stupendous event. The creation of a material world bears no comparison with it; hence, to the view of Scripture, all the circumstances of generation and birth are divine and wonderful.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Joh 16:21-22. A woman when she is in travail “The state of mind you will be in, when the events happen of which I am speaking, cannot be described better than by comparing it to the condition of a woman in travail. During her labour she has exquisite pain, because the birth approaches; but as soon as the is delivered, she forgets her anguish, being filled with joy that she has brought one of the human species and a child of her own into the world. Just so, you my disciples will be in the greater distress during the time of my departure; but as I am to rise again from the dead, and to ascend into heaven, you will forget yoursorrow, and rejoice exceedingly; and from that time forth it shall not be in the power of your enemies to rob you of your joy.” As this promise will be for ever accomplished to all Christ’s faithful servants, so it is pleasing to observe how St. Paul, in his more abundant afflictions, attests his experience of its truth, when he says, As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing, 2Co 6:10.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
Ver. 21. A woman when she is in travail ] The sorrow of a saint is often compared to that of a travailing woman, Isa 26:17 ; Jer 6:24 , &c. 1. In bitterness and sharpness; which made Medea say, that she had rather a thousand times be slain in battle than once bring forth a child: Millies in belle perire mallem, quam semel parere. 2. In utility; it tends to a birth. 3. In hope and expectation, not only of an end, but also of fruit. 4. In that there is a certain set time for both. And Finis edulcat media. The end sweetens the means. (Keckermann.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
21. ] The ‘tertium comparationis’ is : but the comparison itself goes far beyond this mere similitude.
is not merely generic, but allusive to the frequent use and notoriety of the comparison. We often have it in the O.T., see Isa 21:3 ; Isa 26:17-18 ; Isa 37:3 ; Isa 66:7-8 ; Hos 13:13-14 ; Mic 4:9-10 .
] is bringing forth, viz. , expressed in . below.
. ] her (appointed) time.
. not necessarily masculine (“non puella sed puer,” Aug [224] ), but indefinite.
[224] Augustine, Bp. of Hippo , 395 430
The deeper reference of the comparison has been well described by Olshausen: “Here arises the question, how are we to understand this similitude? We might perhaps think that the suffering Manhood of Christ was the woman in her pangs , and the same Christ glorified in the Resurrection, the Man born; but the Redeemer ( Joh 16:22 ) applies the pangs to the disciples: how then will the who is born apply to them?” Then, after condemning the shallow and unsatisfactory method of avoiding deep research by asserting that the details of parables are not to be interpreted, he proceeds: “Hence the proper import of the figure seems to be, that the Death of Jesus Christ was as it were an anguish of birth belonging to all Humanity ( ein schmerzvoller Geburtsact der ganzen Menschheit ) in which the perfect Man was born into the world; and in this very birth of the new man lies the spring of eternal joy, never to be lost, for all, inasmuch as through Him and His power the renovation of the whole is rendered possible” (ii. 379). And indeed the same is true of every Christian who is planted in the likeness of Christ. His passing from sorrow to joy till “Christ be formed in him,” is this birth of pain. And the whole Church, the Spouse of Christ, nay, even the whole Creation, , till the number of the elect be accomplished, and the eternal joy brought in. And thus the meaning which Luthardt insists on as against the above remarks of Olshausen, viz. the new birth of the Church , is in inner truth the same as his.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 16:21 . He adds an illustration of the manner in which anxiety and dread pass into joy: “the woman,” the article is generic, cf. , Joh 15:15 , Meyer, , “when she brings forth,” , “hath sorrow because her hour” the critical or appointed time of her delivery “is come”. The woman in travail is the common figure for terror-stricken anguish in O.T.: Psa 48:6 ; Jer 4:31 ; Jer 6:24 , etc. “but when the child is born, she no longer remembers the distress, for the joy that a man is born into the world”. The comparison, so far as explicitly used by our Lord in Joh 16:22 , extends only to the sudden replacement of sorrow with joy in both cases. But a comparison of Isa 66:7-9 , Hos 13:13 , and other O.T. passages, in which the resurrection of a new Israel is likened to a difficult and painful birth, warrants the extension of the metaphor to the actual birth of the N.T. church in the resurrection of Christ. Cf. Holtzmann.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
A woman = The woman. The article, in conjunction with the Hebraism “in that day”, verses: Joh 16:23, Joh 16:26, in. dicates the woman (wife) of Rev 12. See Isa 66:7-11. Mic 5:3. Compare Psa 22:31. Hos 13:13. Mic 4:9, Mic 4:10. The time is the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jer 30:7), the birth -pangs (sorrows, Mat 24:8) which will result in the birth of the new Israel, the nation of Isa 66:8 and Mat 21:43.
child. App-108:
anguish. Greek. thlipsis, tribulation. Mat 24:21, Mat 24:29.
for = on account of. Greek. dia. App-104. Joh 16:2.
man. App-123.
is born = was born.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
21.] The tertium comparationis is : but the comparison itself goes far beyond this mere similitude.
is not merely generic, but allusive to the frequent use and notoriety of the comparison. We often have it in the O.T.,-see Isa 21:3; Isa 26:17-18; Isa 37:3; Isa 66:7-8; Hos 13:13-14; Mic 4:9-10.
] is bringing forth, viz. , expressed in . below.
.] her (appointed) time.
. not necessarily masculine (non puella sed puer, Aug[224]), but indefinite.
[224] Augustine, Bp. of Hippo, 395-430
The deeper reference of the comparison has been well described by Olshausen: Here arises the question, how are we to understand this similitude? We might perhaps think that the suffering Manhood of Christ was the woman in her pangs, and the same Christ glorified in the Resurrection, the Man born; but the Redeemer (Joh 16:22) applies the pangs to the disciples: how then will the who is born apply to them? Then, after condemning the shallow and unsatisfactory method of avoiding deep research by asserting that the details of parables are not to be interpreted, he proceeds: Hence the proper import of the figure seems to be, that the Death of Jesus Christ was as it were an anguish of birth belonging to all Humanity (ein schmerzvoller Geburtsact der ganzen Menschheit) in which the perfect Man was born into the world; and in this very birth of the new man lies the spring of eternal joy, never to be lost, for all, inasmuch as through Him and His power the renovation of the whole is rendered possible (ii. 379). And indeed the same is true of every Christian who is planted in the likeness of Christ. His passing from sorrow to joy-till Christ be formed in him, is this birth of pain. And the whole Church, the Spouse of Christ,-nay, even the whole Creation, , till the number of the elect be accomplished, and the eternal joy brought in. And thus the meaning which Luthardt insists on as against the above remarks of Olshausen, viz. the new birth of the Church, is in inner truth the same as his.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 16:21. , when she is about to bring forth) Here there is not yet added, offspring, because the woman is then rather held fast in the throes of actual labour.-, a human being) whether a son or a daughter.- into the world) How much greater will be your joy, to sec Jesus, restored alive to you, Joh 16:22.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 16:21
Joh 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.-He illustrates by the pain and anguish of a woman in travail chased away by the joy that a man is born into the world. [The figure of a woman in travail was used to illustrate sudden sorrow and anguish. (Isa 21:3; Hos 13:13; Mic 4:9). But here Jesus gives it a new application by asserting that joy comes out of the pains of travail.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
world
Greek, “kosmos”, means “mankind”.
(See Scofield Mat 4:8).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
woman: Gen 3:16, Isa 26:16-18, Jer 30:6, Jer 30:7, Hos 13:13, Hos 13:14, Mic 4:10, Rev 12:2-5
for: Gen 21:6, Gen 21:7, Gen 30:23, Gen 30:24, 1Sa 1:26, 1Sa 1:27, Psa 113:9, Luk 1:57, Luk 1:58, Gal 4:27
Reciprocal: Gen 45:28 – It is enough 1Sa 4:20 – Fear not Job 11:16 – Because Ecc 3:2 – time to be born Isa 26:17 – General Isa 53:11 – see Luk 6:21 – ye that weep Rom 8:22 – groaneth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1
The original word for sorrow also means “pain, so that it applies to the bodily feeling In tills case, as well as the state of nervous anxiety of a woman at such a time. That condition would make the contrast all the more apparent when the joy of the happy termination was experienced, Likewise, the sorrow of the disciples at the death of their Master was more than overbalanced by the rejoicing that came upon his resurrection and reappearance among them.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 16:21. A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow because her hour is come; but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no longer the tribulation for her joy that a man is born into the world. An illustration of what had been said familiar to all, but drawn out of the very heart of Old Testament life and feeling (Isa 21:3; Isa 26:17; Isa 66:7; Psa 128:3; Eze 19:10). Yet there is more in the language than meets the eye at first sight, and its peculiarities form a valuable proof of the correctness of the interpretation given above by the twice repeated little while. For why (1) the expression her hour is come, but because the crucifixion was the hour of Jesus, that of His deepest sorrow and the sorrow of His disciples? And why (2) the use of the word man instead of child, when it is said a man is born into the world, but because that which is brought forth in tribulation is the new birth of regenerated humanity, and because that new life with which the Church springs into being is life in a risen Lord (Eph 2:5), and carries us back to the moment when Jesus Himself rose from the grave?
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Vv. 21, 22. A woman, when she is in travail, has sorrow, because her hour is come; but when she has brought forth the child, she remembers no more her anguish for the joy she has that a man is born into the world. 22. And you also now have sorrow;but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice; and your joy no one shall take from you.
The point of comparison is the sudden passage from extreme sorrow to extreme joy. It must be limited to this. The idea of the bringing forth of a new world, which is to result from this hour of anguish, does not seem to be in the thought of Jesus.
The expression her hour perhaps alludes to the sorrowful hour through which Jesus Himself is to pass (my hour). The word a man sets forth the greatness of the event accomplished, and gives the ground of the mother’s joy.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Jesus compared how the disciples would feel to the feelings of a pregnant woman at her delivery. This was an Old Testament illustration of how God’s people would feel when Messiah appeared (cf. Isa 21:3-5; Isa 26:16-21; Isa 66:7-14; Jer 13:21; Mic 4:9-10). Jesus again used the word "hour" (Gr. hora, Joh 2:4; et al.) to focus the critical time of both painful experiences: His death and the woman’s delivery. What issues from the painful experience is so wonderful, in both cases, that the resulting joy replaces the former sorrow.