Isaiah 21 · Verse 3

Isaiah 21:3

Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it.
Isaiah 21:3, King James Version

Isaiah 21:3 in other translations

BSBTherefore 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.
WEBTherefore my thighs are filled with anguish. Pains have seized me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am in so much pain that I can’t hear. I am so dismayed that I can’t see.
ASVTherefore are my loins filled with anguish; pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman in travail: I am pained so that I cannot hear; I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
YLTTherefore filled have been my loins with great pain, Pangs have seized me as pangs of a travailing woman, I have been bent down by hearing, I have been troubled by seeing.
DARBYTherefore are my loins filled with pain; anguish hath taken hold upon me, as the anguish of a woman in travail: I am bowed down so as not to hear, I am dismayed so as not to see.
BBEFor this cause I am full of bitter grief; pains like the pains of a woman in childbirth have come on me: I am bent down with sorrow at what comes to my ears; I am shocked by what I see.
WebsterTherefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it.

What does Isaiah 21:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
3. Isaiah imagines himself among the exiles in Babylon and cannot help feeling moved by the calamities which come on it. So for Moab (Is 15:5; 16:11). pain--(Compare Is 13:8; Eze 30:4, 19; Na 2:10). at the hearing--The Hebrew may mean, "I was so bowed down that I could not hear; I was so dismayed that I could not see" (Ge 16:2; Psa 69:23) [Maurer].

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 21:1-10

The taking of Babylon. (Is. 21:1-10) Of the Edomites. (Is. 21:11,12) Of the Arabs. (Is. 21:13-17) Verses 1-10 Babylon was a flat country, abundantly watered. The destruction of Babylon, so often prophesied of by Isaiah, was typical of the destruction of the great foe of the New Testament church, foretold in the Revelation. To the poor oppressed captives it would be welcome news; to the proud oppressors it would be…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 21:1-10 →

Isaiah 21:3 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

עַל\־'al-there-H5921
כֵּ֗ןKen-foreH3651
מָלְא֤וּmal.'Uthey are fullH4390
מָתְנַי֙ma.te.Nailoins myH4975
חַלְחָלָ֔הchal.cha.LahanguishH2479
צִירִ֣יםtzi.RimpangsH6735
אֲחָז֔וּנִי'a.cha.Zu.nithey have seized meH270
כְּצִירֵ֖יke.tzi.Reilike [the] pangs ofH6735
יֽוֹלֵדָ֑הyo.le.Dah[a woman who] gives birthH3205
נַעֲוֵ֣יתִיna.'a.Vei.tiI am bent overH5753
מִשְּׁמֹ֔עַmi.she.Mo.a'from hearingH8085
נִבְהַ֖לְתִּיniv.Hal.tiI am terrifiedH926
מֵרְאֽוֹת\׃me.re.'otfrom seeingH7200

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 21:3

  • Isaiah 13:8

    And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.

  • Isaiah 26:17

    Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O Lord.

  • Psalms 48:6

    Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.

  • 1 Thessalonians 5:3

    For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

  • Jeremiah 48:41

    Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty men’s hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

  • Isaiah 16:11

    Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kir–haresh.

  • Micah 4:9-10

    Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail. Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.

  • Deuteronomy 28:67

    In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

  • Daniel 5:5-6

    In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.

  • Isaiah 16:9

    Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen.

  • Habakkuk 3:16

    When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.

  • Jeremiah 49:22

    Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
are.
15:5; 16:9,11; Hab 3:16
pangs have.
13:8; 26:17; Ps 48:6; Jer 48:41; 49:22; 50:43; Mic 4:9,10; 1Th 5:3
I was bowed.
De 28:67; Da 5:5,6

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 21:2

    A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease.

  • Isaiah 21:3

    Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it.

  • Isaiah 21:4

    My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me.

Read all of Isaiah 21

Isaiah 21:3 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Por tanto mis lomos se han llenado de dolor; angustias se apoderaron de mí, como angustias de mujer de parto: agobiéme oyendo, y al ver heme espantado.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
C’est pourquoi mes reins sont remplis de douleur; des angoisses m’ont saisi comme les angoisses de celle qui enfante; je suis courbé, à ne pas entendre; je suis terrifié, à n’y pas voir;
German
Elberfelder 1871
Darum sind meine Lenden voll Schmerzes Wehen haben mich ergriffen wie die Wehen einer Gebärenden; ich krümme mich, daß ich nicht hören, bin bestürzt, daß ich nicht sehen kann.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Propterea repleti sunt lumbi mei dolore; angustia possedit me sicut angustia parturientis; corrui cum audirem, conturbatus sum cum viderem.