Travail

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

'''A — 1: μόχθος (Strong'S #3449 — Noun Masculine — mochthos — mokh'-thos )

"labor, involving painful effort," is rendered "travail" in  2 Corinthians 11:27 , Rv (Av, "painfulness"); in  1 Thessalonians 2:9;  2 Thessalonians 3:8 it stresses the toil involved in the work.

'''A — 2: ὠδίν (Strong'S #5604 — Noun Feminine — odin — o-deen' )

a birth pang, "travail pain," is used illustratively in  1 Thessalonians 5:3 of the calamities which are to come upon men at the beginning of the Day of the Lord; the figure used suggests the inevitableness of the catastrophe. See Pain , No. 2, Sorrow.

'''B — 1: ὠδίνω (Strong'S #5605 — Verb — odino — o-dee'-no )

akin to A, No. 2, is used negatively in  Galatians 4:27 , "(thou) that travailest (not)," quoted from  Isaiah 54:1; the Apostle applies the circumstances of Sarah and Hagar (which doubtless Isaiah was recalling) to show that, whereas the promise by grace had temporarily been replaced by the works of the Law (see  Galatians 3:17 ), this was now reversed, and, in the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham, the number of those saved by the Gospel would far exceed those who owned allegiance to the Law.  Isaiah 54 has primary reference to the future prosperity of Israel restored to God's favor, but frequently the principles underlying events recorded in the Ot extend beyond their immediate application.

 Galatians 4:19  Galatians 4:8 Revelation 12:2  Isaiah 66:7  Micah 5:2,3 Matthew 24:21 Revelation 7:14 Revelation 12:2  Jeremiah 30:7

'''B — 2: συνωδίνω (Strong'S #4944 — Verb — sunodino — soon-o-dee'-no )

"to be in travail together," is used metaphorically in  Romans 8:22 , of the whole creation.

'''B — 3: τίκτω (Strong'S #5088 — Verb — tikto — tik'-to )

"to beget," is rendered "travail" in  John 16:21 .

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Psalm 7:14 (a) The wicked man has a tremendous urge in his soul to do wrong, and gets no relief until he executes his evil designs.

 Psalm 48:6 (a) The sons of Korah are describing the sudden out. pouring of GOD's wrath on the nations, so that they are filled with fear and can find no relief. (See  Jeremiah 6:24;  Jeremiah 13:21;  Jeremiah 22:23;  Micah 4:9).

 Ecclesiastes 1:13 (a) Solomon seems to indicate that all kinds of labor and investigation are a burden to men. They never seem to get the job done, and therefore never rest. He uses this expression all through this book of Ecclesiastes.

 Isaiah 53:11 (a) CHRIST's terrible sufferings and sorrows are compared to the pains of a woman in childbirth.

 Isaiah 54:1 (a) There is a comparison here between the Law and Grace, between Israel and the Church, between the bondage of the Old Testament, and the freedom of the New. Hagar gave birth to a child through the scheme and plan of Abraham. In contrast with this, Isaac was the child of Sarah by promise and by miracle. So it is with the Old Testament plan. Men sought by many ways (given by God). to better themselves and increase their usefulness They failed and were set aside. Then Christ Jesus came to bring betterment, goodness, and the salvation of the soul by the sacrifice and the resurrection of Himself. Millions have been set free by the Saviour, far in excess of that which came from Israel.

 Isaiah 66:7 (b) Christ Jesus came to Israel, but they were not ready for Him, and did not want Him. The nation of Israel was formed in a day, but they did not want their King, they were not ready for their Messiah.

 Romans 8:22 (a) All of nature is indeed suffering with the things that exist on the earth. Plant life and animal life suffer the depredations of enemies, and are finally overcome by death. All human beings have sorrow, the wealthy as well as the poor. All minerals and metals suffer with rust and decay. Nothing improves with age. Sorrow abounds in every realm.

 Galatians 4:19 (a) Paul was deeply exercised in his soul about the spiritual welfare of the Galatians. They had become so occupied with law keeping, that they had forgotten the precious presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul wanted them to make Christ Jesus Lord of all, and preeminent in their thinking and their worship. His soul was deeply exercised about this.

 1 Thessalonians 2:9 (a) Paul was a marvelous example of one who accompanied his faith by his works. He worked with his hands day and night to pay all of his own bills, and also the expenses of the nine men who were with him. He demanded no salary, and took no offerings from these people. It was not an easy task. It was most burdensome and difficult, as he indicates by using the word travail.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Travail . The Fr. travail , meaning ‘labour or trouble,’ was taken into Eng. without alteration of meaning or spelling. This spelling is found in Av [Note: Authorized Version.] , and it is still sometimes used, especially for the labour of child-birth. But the spelling ‘travel’ afterwards became common, and the word was then confined to journeying, that being a recognized form of toii and trouble in those days. In   Numbers 20:14 ‘Thou knowest all the travel that hath befallen us,’ the meaning is more than journeying , and so Rv [Note: Revised Version.] spells the word ‘travail,’ which was the original spelling of Av [Note: Authorized Version.] also.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) To labor with pain; to toil.

(2): ( n.) To suffer the pangs of childbirth; to be in labor.

(3): ( v. t.) To harass; to tire.

(4): ( n.) Labor with pain; severe toil or exertion.

(5): ( n.) Parturition; labor; as, an easy travail.

(6): ( v. i.) Same as Travois.

King James Dictionary

Trav'Ail, L. trans, over, beyond, and mael, work Eng. moil.

1. To labor with pain to toil. 2. To suffer the pangs of childbirth to be in labor.  Genesis 35

Trav'Ail, To harass to tire as troubles sufficient to travail the realm. Not in use.

Trav'Ail, n. Labor with pain severe toil.

As every thing of price, so doth this require travail.

1. Labor in childbirth as a severe travail an easy travail.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

trav´ā́l ( ילד , yāladh (  Genesis 35:16 , etc.), חוּל , ḥūl , חיל , ḥı̄l (properly "writhe,"  Job 15:20 , etc.); ὠδίν , ōdin (classical ōdı́s ) ( Matthew 24:8 , etc.), ὠδίνω , ōdı́nō (Sirach 19:11, etc.;  Galatians 4:19 , etc.)): "Travail" and its derivatives are used in the primary sense of the labor of childbirth, descriptive of the actual cases of Rachel ( Genesis 35:16 ), Tamar ( Genesis 38:27 ), Ichabod's mother ( 1 Samuel 4:19 ), and the apocalyptic woman clothed with the sun ( Revelation 12:2 ). In the majority of passages, however, "travail" is used figuratively , to express extreme and painful sorrow (9 times in Jeremiah), "as of a woman in travail." It is also employed in the sense of irksome and vexatious business (6 times in Ecclesiastes, where it is the rendering of the word ‛inyān ). In the same book "travail" is used to express the toil of one's daily occupation ( Ecclesiastes 4:4 ,  Ecclesiastes 4:6 ), where it is the translation of ‛āmāl . In three places ( Exodus 18:8;  Numbers 20:14;  Lamentations 3:5 ) where the King James Version has "travel" the Revised Version (British and American) has changed it to "travail," as in these passages the word telā'āh refers to the sense of weariness and toil, rather than to the idea of journeying (in the King James Version the spellings "travel" and "travail" were used indiscriminately; compare Sirach 19:11; 31:5). The sorrows which are the fruits of wickedness are compared to the pain of travail in  Job 15:20 ( ḥūl ) and  Psalm 7:14 ( ḥābhal ), the word used here meaning the torture or twisting pains of labor; see also the fanciful employment of "travail" in Sirach 19:11.

In the New Testament the travail of childbirth is used as the figure of the painful and anxious struggle against the evils of the world in the soul's efforts to attain the higher ideals of the Christian life ( John 16:21 ( tı́ktō );  Romans 8:22;  Galatians 4:27 ); twice, however, it is the rendering of móchthos , the ordinary word for "toil," "hardship" or "distress" ( 1 Thessalonians 2:9;  2 Thessalonians 3:8 ). See Birth; Labor .