This verse is quite wordy, emphasizing the woman’s intense suffering as she was giving birth to the child. New Revised Standard Version is a considerable improvement over the literal rendition of Revised Standard Version; it reads: “She was pregnant and was crying out in birthpangs, in the agony of giving birth.” This is much the same as New Jerusalem Bible: “She was pregnant, and in labour, crying aloud in the pangs of childbirth.” Something like the following can be said: “The woman was pregnant; she was about to give birth to her child, and her intense labor pains made her cry out.” The Greek verb represented by Revised Standard Version in anguish is the one used in 9.5; 11.10, where it means “to cause suffering,” “to torture.” Here a term should be used that fits the context of childbirth. Pregnant: translators should use the most natural term in their language, but it should be one that will not offend readers.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .