“Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.”
The description of trembling seizing the kings and pangs similar to those of a woman in labor establishes the intensity of their fear and the totality of their distress. The comparison to childbirth pangs suggests sudden onset and overwhelming intensity; the kings experience acute psychological anguish. The specific mention of a woman in labor creates vivid imagery of pain and distress; the monarchs are reduced to this condition of helpless suffering. The phrase about trembling seizing them suggests loss of composure and command; the kings lose their authority and control. This verse emphasizes the psychological dissolution of the enemy's will and military capacity through fear of the divine city.
Church Fathers on Psalms 48:6
1. The title of this Psalm is, “A song of praise, to the sons of Korah, on the second day of the week.” Concerning this what the Lord deigns to grant receive ye like sons of the firmament. For on the second day of the week, that is, the day after the first which we call the Lord's day, which also is called the second week-day, was made the firmament of Heaven. Genesis 1:6-8 ...The second day of the week then we ought not to understand but of the Church of Christ: but the…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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