John 16:21

A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow. — The Greek is more exactly, the woman... hath pangs — that is, “the woman in the well-known illustration.” (See Note on John 15:15.) This figure was of frequent use in the prophets. (Comp. Isaiah 21:3; Isaiah 26:17, and especially Isaiah 66:7; Jeremiah 4:31; Jeremiah 22:23; Jeremiah 30:6; Hosea 13:13; Micah 4:9.)

That a man is born into the world. — The word is the wider word for “human being.” (Comp. Note on John 1:51.) The thought is of the joy of maternity swallowing up the pangs of child-birth. These cease to exist, but that continues. She forgets the one in the fulness of the other.

For the phrase “into the world” comp. John 1:9; John 18:37.