ὠδίνω
ōdínō
G5605 verb
SILEX Entry
Definition
To suffer the pains of childbirth; to experience labor, especially the intense pain associated with giving birth. By extension, to undergo severe distress, agony, or intense suffering, particularly of a figurative or impending nature. The word frequently implies an acute, inevitable, and climactic crisis, whether physical, emotional, or eschatological.
Semantic Range
to experience birth pains, to be in labor, to go through the agony of childbirth; to undergo acute suffering or distress, especially as a precursor to a significant change or event; to suffer travail figuratively
Root / Etymology
From the noun ὠδίν (ōdín, 'birth pain', 'labor pain'), itself of uncertain further origin but attested in early Greek for the pain associated with childbirth.
Historical & Contextual Notes
In Classical Greek, ὠδίνω strictly referred to actively suffering labor pains or being in travail. In Hellenistic and Koine usage (including the Septuagint and New Testament), the verb expanded to figurative senses: describing agonizing or climactic struggles, anticipated suffering before a significant event (often with eschatological overtones, as in Romans 8:22, where creation 'groans together and suffers birth pains'). English translations often render the term with 'travail', 'suffer birth pangs', or 'be in labor,' but the figurative sense (intense suffering preceding new birth or transformation) can be missed. In prophetic and apocalyptic contexts, it evokes both the inevitability and the productive outcome of suffering—suffering that results in something new and significant. The sense and emotional weight of the term may be more vivid in Greek than in typical English renderings.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from ὠδίν; to experience the pains of parturition (literally or figuratively):--travail in (birth).
Root Family
ὠδίνω (ōdinō) — to suffer labor pains, to be in travail, to undergo birth agony
Word Forms
2 distinct forms
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G5605-02 |
ὠδίνουσα | odinousa | V PRS ACT PTCP VOC F SG |
are not in labor | being in labor | being in labor | 2 |
G5605-01 |
ὠδίνω | odino | V PRS ACT IND 1P SG |
I travail | I am in labor | I am in labor | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
3 occurrences
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G5605-01 |
Galatians 4:19 | ὠδίνω | odino | V PRS ACT IND 1P SG |
I travail | I am in labor | I am in labor |
G5605-02 |
Galatians 4:27 | ὠδίνουσα | odinousa | V PRS ACT PTCP VOC F SG |
are not in labor | being in labor | being in labor |
G5605-02 |
Revelation 12:2 | ὠδίνουσα | odinousa | V PRS ACT PTCP NOM F SG |
in labor | being in labor | being in labor |