Mat 24:8 | RWP | e4.org | The beginning of travail ( αρχη οδινων ). The word means birth-pangs and the Jews used the very phrase for the sufferings of the Messiah which were to come before the coming of the Messiah (Book of Jubilees, 23:18; Apoc. of Baruch 27-29). But the word occurs with no idea of birth as the pains of death ( ; ). These woes, says Jesus, are not a proof of the end, but of the beginning.

‏ Matthew 24:8

The beginning of travail ( αρχη οδινων ). The word means birth-pangs and the Jews used the very phrase for the sufferings of the Messiah which were to come before the coming of the Messiah (Book of Jubilees, 23:18; Apoc. of Baruch 27-29). But the word occurs with no idea of birth as the pains of death (Ps 18:5; Ac 2:24). These woes, says Jesus, are not a proof of the end, but of the beginning.