For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail,.... So the distress of the Jews, at the time of their destruction, is compared to the sorrows of a woman in travail; and a word, that signifies that is used to express it, Mt 24:8:and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child; whose time is more difficult, her pains sharper, her anguish greater, and, having less experience, the more impatient:the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself; her unhappy condition, and miserable circumstances:that spreadeth her hands; as persons in distress do, and particularly women in travail: saying,woe is me now, for my soul is wearied because of murderers: these abounded: under the second temple, and was the reason, the Jews say: , of the sanhedrim removing from their usual place in the temple; and why they ceased from the beheading of the red heifer .
T. Bab. Avoda Zara, fol. 8. 2. Misn. Sota, c. 9. sect. 9.