1 Samuel 1:6

1:6 Her rival wife used to upset her and make her worry, ¹  for the Lord had not enabled her to have children.

Yesaya 54:1

Zion Will Be Secure

54:1 “Shout for joy, O barren one who has not given birth!

Give a joyful shout and cry out, you who have not been in labor!

For the children of the desolate one are more numerous

than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.

Yeremia 15:9

15:9 The mother who had seven children ²  will grow faint.

All the breath will go out of her. ³ 

Her pride and joy will be taken from her in the prime of their life.

It will seem as if the sun had set while it was still day. ⁴ 

She will suffer shame and humiliation. ⁵ 

I will cause any of them who are still left alive

to be killed in war by the onslaughts of their enemies,” ⁶ 

says the Lord.

Galatia 4:27

4:27 For it is written:

“Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear children; ⁷ 

break forth and shout, you who have no birth pains,

because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous

than those of the woman who has a husband.” ⁸ 

[1:6]  ¹ tn Heb “and her rival wife grieved her, even [with] grief so as to worry her.”

[15:9]  ² tn Heb “who gave birth to seven.”

[15:9]  sn To have seven children was considered a blessing and a source of pride and honor (Ruth 4:15; 1 Sam 2:5).

[15:9]  ³ tn The meaning of this line is debated. Some understand this line to mean “she has breathed out her life” (cf., e.g., BDB 656 s.v. נָפַח and 656 s.v. ֶנפֶשׁ 1.c). However, as several commentaries have noted (e.g., W. McKane, Jeremiah [ICC], 1:341; J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 109) it makes little sense to talk about her suffering shame and embarrassment if she has breathed her last. Both the Greek and Latin versions understand “soul” not as the object but as the subject and the idea being one of fainting under despair. This idea seems likely in light of the parallelism. Bright suggests the phrase means either “she gasped out her breath” or “her throat gasped.” The former is more likely. One might also render “she fainted dead away,” but that idiom might not be familiar to all readers.

[15:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “Her sun went down while it was still day.”

[15:9]  sn The sun was the source of light and hence has associations with life, prosperity, health, and blessing. The premature setting of the sun which brought these seems apropos as metaphor for the loss of her children which were not only a source of joy, help, and honor. Two references where “sun” is used figuratively, Ps 84:11 (84:12 HT) and Mal 4:2, may be helpful here.

[15:9]  ⁵ sn She has lost her position of honor and the source of her pride. For the concepts here see 1 Sam 2:5.

[15:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “I will deliver those of them that survive to the sword before their enemies.” The referent of “them” is ambiguous. Does it refer to the children of the widow (nearer context) or the people themselves (more remote context, v. 7)? Perhaps it was meant to include both. Verse seven spoke of the destruction of the people and the killing off of the children.

[4:27]  ⁷ tn The direct object “children” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied for clarity. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[4:27]  ⁸ tn Grk “because more are the children of the barren one than of the one having a husband.”

[4:27]  sn A quotation from Isa 54:1.