(described in vv 4–7) are merely the beginning of birth pangs” (v 8). “Birth pangs” (ōdin) is a technical term drawn from the Old and New Testaments, designating a broad period of eschatological woes that is identified as the day of the Lord and precedes the Second Coming of Christ. The phrase, “immediately [eutheōs] after the tribulation,” helps establish the eschatological emphasis of the 4–28 unit and eliminates any interval between v 28 and the Second Coming of Christ in vv 29–31. The design