Bible Strands
Isaiah 66:7
“Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before she was in pain, she delivered a boy.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet relays the Lord’s declaration to Israel, contrasting their former barrenness with sudden national restoration amid a context of impending judgment on enemies. The statement functions as a rhetorical pivot between the voice of divine retribution in verse 6 and the explanation of Zion’s instantaneous revival in verse 8.
The words — בְּ/טֶ֥רֶם (be./Te.rem) literally means “before” or “in,” and תָּחִ֖יל (ta.Chil) means “she was in labor.” The text pairs these terms to compress the expected chronological sequence of childbirth into a single, unbroken moment.
The thread — The compressed childbirth motif runs through Isaiah 54:1, which commands the barren woman to shout, and appears in Galatians 4:26 and Revelation 12:1, where the woman represents the free Jerusalem and the heavenly sign. These references consistently map the imagery onto divine intervention rather than natural lineage.
Why it lands — The text states that deliverance occurs prior to the arrival of pain, requiring the reader to abandon expectations of proportional suffering. It demands recognition that restoration operates on a divine schedule independent of human preparation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.
Cross-references
- Revelation 12:1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.
- Galatians 4:26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
- Isaiah 54:1 “Shout for joy, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth in song and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD.