Jeremiah 30:6
in Jeremiah 30Ask now, and see: Can a male give birth? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child: wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
KJV
Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
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This verse in Jeremiah 30
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAll faces shall be turned into paleness. The word signifies not only such paleness as arises from a sudden fright, but that which is the effect of a bad habit of body, the jaundice, or the green sickness.
This site's exposition
Yes, this is what the LORD
on Jeremiah 30:5-7
Verse 7 holds judgment and rescue in one breath: “It is the time of Jacob’s distress, but he will be saved out of it.” Later Jewish and Christian readers alike took the phrase as a name for the nation's final ordeal before deliverance.
This site's exposition
Can a male give birth?
The question mocks the men of the nation. Barnes places the scene in Babylon, with the armies of Cyrus drawing near and terror heard in every cry. Matthew Henry reads the pale faces as the color of sickness, like jaundice.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 4 and following) And these are the words that the Lord spoke to Israel and Judah, for this is what the Lord says: We have heard the voice of terror (or fear), and there is no peace. Inquire and see if a male gives birth. Why then do I see every man with his hand on his loins like a woman in labor, and all faces have turned pale? First, sadness is announced, so that after the magnitude of evils, joy may follow.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child?....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
God will drive men through pain to gestures more fitting a woman than a man (Jer 4:31; The metaphor is often used to express the previous pain followed by the sudden deliverance of Israel, as in the case of a woman in childbirth (Isa 66:7-9). paleness--properly the color of herbs blasted and fading: the green paleness of one in jaundice: the sickly paleness of terror.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שַׁאֲלוּ־ | shaalu- | ask | H7592 → | 171 times |
| נָ֣א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| וּרְא֔וּ | ureu | and see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יֹלֵ֖ד | yoled | [is] giving birth | H3205 → | 496 times |
| זָכָ֑ר | zakhar | a male | H2145 → | |
| מַדּוּעַ֩ | madua' | why? | H4069 → | 72 times |
| רָאִ֨יתִי | raiti | have I seen | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| כָל־ | khol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| גֶּ֜בֶר | gever | man | H1397 → | 65 times |
| יָדָ֤יו | yadav | hands his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| חֲלָצָיו֙ | chalatzav | loins his | H2504 → | |
| כַּיּ֣וֹלֵדָ֔ה | kaiyoledah | like <the> [woman] giving birth | H3205 → | 496 times |
| וְנֶהֶפְכ֥וּ | venehefkhu | and have they been changed? | H2015 → | 94 times |
| כָל־ | khol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| פָּנִ֖ים | panim | faces | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| לְיֵרָקֽוֹן׃ | leyerakon | into paleness | H3420 → |
שַׁאֲלוּ־ask
shaalu-H7592 →171 times
נָ֣אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
וּרְא֔וּand see
ureuH7200 →1300 times
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
יֹלֵ֖ד[is] giving birth
yoledH3205 →496 times
זָכָ֑רa male
zakharH2145 →
מַדּוּעַ֩why?
madua'H4069 →72 times
רָאִ֨יתִיhave I seen
raitiH7200 →1300 times
כָל־every
khol-H3605 →5413 times
גֶּ֜בֶרman
geverH1397 →65 times
יָדָ֤יוhands his
yadavH3027 →1618 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
חֲלָצָיו֙loins his
chalatzavH2504 →
כַּיּ֣וֹלֵדָ֔הlike <the> [woman] giving birth
kaiyoledahH3205 →496 times
וְנֶהֶפְכ֥וּand have they been changed?
venehefkhuH2015 →94 times
כָל־all
khol-H3605 →5413 times
פָּנִ֖יםfaces
panimH6440 →2123 times
לְיֵרָקֽוֹן׃into paleness
leyerakonH3420 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Joel 2:6Nations writhe in horror before them; every face turns pale.
it leads to
- Isaiah 13:8
Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Nahum 2:10
She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!
- Isaiah 13:8
Through
Nahum 2:10She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!
it leads to
- Psalms 22:14
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are disjointed. My heart is like wax; it melts away within me.
- Daniel 5:6
his face grew pale and his thoughts so alarmed him that his hips gave way and his knees knocked together.
- Joel 2:6
Nations writhe in horror before them; every face turns pale.
- Psalms 22:14
Through
Jeremiah 4:31For I hear a cry like a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child—the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands to…
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:15
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
- Lamentations 1:17
Zion stretches out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her. The LORD has decreed against Jacob that his neighbors become his foes. Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.
- Isaiah 1:15
Through
Isaiah 21:3Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see.
it leads to
- Isaiah 26:17
As a woman with child about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in Your presence, O LORD.
- Isaiah 26:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.