Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? - rather, to suit the parallelism, 'Is a country (put for the people in it) brought forth ( hªyuwchal (H2342) is therefore masculine, because a country, Hebrew, 'erets ( H776), though feminine, is put for the men in it) in one day?' (Lowth.) In the English version it means, The earth brings forth its productions gradually, not in one day (Mark 4:28).
(Or) shall a nation be born at once? In this case, contrary to the usual growth of the nations by degrees, Israel starts into maturity at once.
For - rather, 'is a nation born at once, that (kiy (H3588)) Zion has, so soon as she travailed, brought forth' (Maurer).