Psalms 48:6 · Bible study
Psalms 48:6 Commentary: The Pain That Cannot Be Denied
Hebrew · 9 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Why does the psalmist compare God's enemies to a woman in labor? This study unpacks the metaphor and its meaning for divine judgment.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The enemies of God’s people are suddenly seized with terror when they encounter God’s presence; their anguish is as absolute and unstoppable as a woman’s labor pains.
- Key words: “Trembling” (sudden, involuntary fear), “pain” (severe distress), “woman in travail” (a standard biblical image for extreme, inescapable suffering).
- Main debate: Which historical deliverance of Jerusalem the psalm describes, Sennacherib’s siege, Jehoshaphat’s victory, or the Syro-Ephraimite war.
- Theological theme: God’s sovereignty over the nations and His protective presence with His people.
- Best use: Preaching or teaching on divine judgment, the security of the church, and the certainty of God’s rescue.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
Trembling seized them there, anguish like a woman in labor.
WEB World English Bible 2000
Trembling took hold of them there, pain, as of a woman in travail.
KJV King James Version 1769
Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
Trembling took hold of them there, Pain, as of a woman in travail.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
Trembling hath seized them there, Pain, as of a travailing woman.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
Trembling took hold upon them there; anguish, as of a woman in travail.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Why shall I fear in the evil day? the iniquity of my heel shall encompass me.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Tomólos allí temblor; dolor, como á mujer que pare.
Ali o temor os tomou, e sentiram dores como as de parto.
Ils ont regardé, tout stupéfaits,
Zittern ist sie daselbst angekommen, Angst wie eine Gebärerin.
Gelijk zij het zagen, alzo waren zij verwonderd; zij werden verschrikt, zij haastten weg.
un tremore li colse quivi, una doglia come di donna che partorisce.
Sami to ujrzawszy bardzo się zadziwili, a przestraszeni będąc prędko uciekali.
"для чего бояться мне во дни бедствия, когда беззаконие путей моих окружит меня?"
他們在那裡 被戰兢 疼痛 抓住，好像產難的婦人一樣。
Shaking came on them and pain, as on a woman in childbirth.
Verse in Context
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that this verse depicts the sudden, overwhelming terror of the enemy kings who had assembled against Jerusalem. Barnes notes that the phrase “trembling took hold” indicates “sudden consternation”, a panic that seizes them the moment they see the city. The comparison to a woman in childbirth is, in Barnes’s words, “used in the Scriptures to denote the severest kind of pain.” Cambridge Bible links the image to Exodus 15:14, 15, where similar language describes the dread that fell on Canaan’s inhabitants at Israel’s approach. Geneva Bible simply glosses the verse as “feare came there vpon them, and sorowe, as vpon a woman in trauaile.” The core agreement is that the metaphor stresses both the intensity and the inescapability of the enemies’ distress. This is not ordinary fear; it is the kind of anguish that comes when human power meets divine presence directly.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: The verse describes the sudden, intense terror of God’s enemies when they encounter His protective presence, a fear as severe and unstoppable as a woman’s labor pains.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| The identity of the 'kings' in verse 4 | The kings are foreign rulers who assembled to attack Jerusalem. | Some hold that they are specific historical figures from a known siege (e.g., Sennacherib's Assyrian army, the Moabite-Ammonite coalition in 2 Chronicles 20); others take them more generally as representative of all enemies who oppose God's people. |
| The woman in travail metaphor | The metaphor signifies severe, sudden pain. | Some see it purely as a vivid image of the enemies' terror; others note that elsewhere in Scripture (Isaiah 13:8, Jeremiah 30:6) this same image is directly tied to the 'day of the Lord' and final judgment, adding an eschatological layer. |
| The ships of Tarshish (v. 7) | Ships of Tarshish represent distant trade or military power. | Interpreters debate whether this refers to Phoenician vessels, to a specific event like the destruction of a navy, or is simply a general statement about God's power over all human strength. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Psalm 48 celebrates a notable deliverance of Jerusalem from a coalition of hostile kings. Calvin suggests the psalm was written after the death of David and points to the reigns of Ahaz, Jehoshaphat, or Asa, moments when Jerusalem was besieged and miraculously saved. Lange’s commentary lists the siege by Sennacherib (Hezekiah’s time) and the victory under Jehoshaphat against Moab and Ammon (2 Chronicles 20) as the leading possibilities. The precise event is uncertain, but the psalm’s structure is clear: verses 4, 7 describe the enemy’s approach, their sudden terror, and their swift defeat. The “ships of Tarshish” (v. 7) carried the wealth and military might of distant nations, implying that even the most formidable powers cannot stand against God.
The metaphor of labor pain was common in Israel’s poetry. It appears in Isaiah 13:8 and Jeremiah 30:6 to describe the day of the Lord, a time of judgment that is both sudden and irreversible. In the ancient world, childbirth was universally understood as a process that, once started, cannot be stopped or postponed. The enemy kings are portrayed as arriving full of confidence, then instantly collapsing into helpless terror, like a woman whose labor contractions begin without warning and utterly overwhelm her. The point is not just that they were afraid, but that their fear was the first sign of a judgment already in motion, a judgment from which there would be no escape.
Textual Notes
The supplied sources note no significant variants for this verse. The Hebrew text is well-attested across manuscripts, and the English translations (WEB, KJV, ASV, BSB, YLT, Darby) show only slight lexical variation, “fear” for “trembling,” and “pain” or “anguish” for the same term. The substance of the verse is stable.
Reception History
Psalm 48:6 has been read across traditions as a reassurance that God protects His city and judges its enemies. Matthew Henry, in his 18th-century commentary, applies the verse to the security of the church in every age: those who oppose it will eventually be terrified. The Geneva Bible notes saw the “fear” as the natural response of the wicked when they see God’s power. In Reformed worship, this psalm was often sung to celebrate God’s faithfulness in preserving His people. The metaphor of childbirth for judgment appears in early Christian interpretations of the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 and later in readings of Revelation, where the same image is used for the onset of God’s final judgment. The verse has been a source of comfort for believers facing powerful opposition, reminding them that the tables will be turned in God’s time.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Human pride meets divine power. The kings assembled confidently, but at the sight of God’s city they were paralyzed. Their plans evaporated in an instant.
- God defends His own. Jerusalem is not saved by its walls or armies, but by God’s presence. He is known in its palaces as a refuge (v. 3). The enemies’ terror is proof that God is with His people.
- Judgment is as certain as birth. The labor-pain metaphor makes judgment unavoidable. Once the appointed moment arrives, there is no turning back. This comforts the righteous and warns the proud.
Five-point outline
- The setting: An assembly of kings against Zion (v. 4).
- The turning point: They see the city and are amazed (v. 5).
- The reaction: Trembling and pain seize them (v. 6).
- The consequence: God breaks their power like a storm (v. 7).
- The outcome: God’s city stands secure forever (v. 8).
Illustration hooks
- The sudden panic that grips someone when a secret they thought was hidden is exposed. A business deal falls apart in minutes because of one overlooked detail. The feeling of the floor dropping out from under you, that is the kind of terror the psalm describes.
- Think of labor wards in a hospital: the process is inexorable. Once contractions begin in earnest, there is no stopping them. The enemy kings are portrayed in that same grip, helpless before a power they cannot control or resist.
Questions your congregation is asking
- If God protects His people today, why do bad things still happen to them?
- How do I know that God’s judgment will come for the injustice I see around me?
- Can I trust that God is really in control when powerful people seem to win?
Leading a Discussion
This verse captures the moment when human strength meets divine presence. The enemy kings who marched against Jerusalem suddenly find themselves powerless, seized by a fear as intense and irreversible as childbirth. Use these questions to help your group see both the certainty of God’s protection and the seriousness of opposing Him.
Discussion questions
- Read Psalm 48:4, 7. What sequence of events do you see? What happens to the kings between verse 4 and verse 6?
- Why do you think the psalmist uses the image of a woman in labor? What does that comparison tell you about the nature of the enemies’ fear?
- Look at Exodus 15:14, 16 and Isaiah 13:6, 8. How do these other passages use the same metaphor? What does that tell us about how the biblical writers understood divine judgment?
- The psalm celebrates a specific deliverance in Israel’s history. How does remembering what God has done in the past help trust Him in present struggles?
- In what ways do you see the “kings” of our own time, powerful forces or people who oppose God, being checked or humbled?
- How does this passage encourage you when you feel threatened or overwhelmed by circumstances?
- If you were one of the enemy kings in this story, what would you want to know before you marched on Jerusalem? How does that question apply to your own life?
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Exodus 15:15 | Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed. Trembling takes hold of the mighty men of Moab. All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. |
| Exodus 15:16 | Terror and dread falls on them. By the greatness of your arm they are as still as a stone, until your people pass over, Yahweh, until the people you have purchased pass over. |
| Isaiah 13:6 | Wail, for Yahweh’s day is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. |
| Isaiah 13:8 | They will be dismayed. Pangs and sorrows will seize them. They will be in pain like a woman in labor. They will look in amazement one at another. Their faces will be faces of flame. |
| Isaiah 21:3 | Therefore 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. |
| Jeremiah 30:6 | Ask now, and see whether a man travails with child. Why do I see every man with his hands on his waist, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned pale? |
| Jeremiah 30:7 | Alas, for that day is great, so that none is like it! It is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he will be saved out of it. |
| Daniel 5:6 | Then the king’s face was changed in him, and his thoughts troubled him; and the joints of his thighs were loosened, and his knees struck one against another. |
Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
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What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes points out that fear struck the moment the attackers caught sight of the city, not gradually. The pain came from two sources: crushed hopes and worry for their own safety. He compares this anguish to a woman in labor, the Bible's picture of extreme suffering.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin argues that Psalm 48 must have been written after David's reign, because it describes a siege and miraculous rescue that never happened in David's day. He suggests the psalm likely celebrates God's deliverance during Ahaz, Jehoshaphat, or Asa, when Jerusalem was saved only by heaven's intervention.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Trembling took hold of them there: d Pangs, as of a woman in travail. d Cp. Exo_15:14-15 ; and for the phrase though in a different connexion, Isa_33:14 , “Trembling hath taken hold of the godless.”
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The commentator compares the fear and sorrow that seize these people to the sudden, overwhelming pain of a woman in childbirth. The image emphasizes that the terror comes on them without warning and with an intensity they cannot escape or control.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill reads this verse as a prophecy of the final battle at Armageddon. He pictures the assembled kings arriving with intent to slaughter, only to be seized by terror and pain like a woman in labor when God’s judgment overtakes them instead.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch reads "sides of the north" in this psalm as a literal topographical description of the Temple hill, not a mythological reference to a pagan mountain of the gods. They argue that the phrase designates the northern angle of ancient Jerusalem where Mount Moriah stood.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange reads the psalm as celebrating a historical deliverance that also symbolizes the Church's security under God. He argues Zion's beauty is not primarily geographic but spiritual, pointing to God's unique revelation there. The deliverance confirms that what earlier generations heard about God's faithfulness is now seen in personal experience, strengthening trust for the future.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry observes that the psalmist frames all praise of Jerusalem within praise of God, opening and closing with God's greatness and goodness. The city's true honor is that heaven's King chose it as his own, a point Christ himself confirms by calling it the city of the great King.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley notes that Sennacherib's fear had two distinct causes: the news of Tirhakah advancing against him, and the staggering slaughter of his own army. Both together shattered his confidence.