For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
Parallel Translations
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For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
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because the creatures are subdued to vanyte agaynst their will: but for his will which subdueth them in hope.
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Because the creature is subiect to vanitie, not of it owne will, but by reason of him, which hath subdued it vnder hope,
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Romans 8:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 3:17-19 To Adam he said, “Because you have listened to your wife’s voice, and ate from the tree, about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ the ground is cursed for your sake. You will eat from it with much labor all the days of your life. It will yield thorns and thistles to you; and you will eat the herb of the field. You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground, for you were taken out of it. For you are dust, and you shall return to dust.”
- Genesis 5:29 He named him Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, caused by the ground which Yahweh has cursed.”
- Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.
- Jeremiah 12:4 How long will the land mourn, and the herbs of the whole country wither? Because of the wickedness of those who dwell therein, the animals and birds are consumed; because they said, “He won’t see our latter end.”
- Isaiah 24:5-6 The earth also is polluted under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell therein are found guilty. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.
- Jeremiah 14:5-6 Yes, the doe in the field also calves and forsakes her young, because there is no grass. The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights. They pant for air like jackals. Their eyes fail, because there is no vegetation.
- Hosea 4:3 Therefore the land will mourn, and everyone who dwells in it will waste away, with all living things in her, even the animals of the field and the birds of the sky, yes, the fish of the sea also die.
- Ecclesiastes 1:2 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
- Genesis 6:13 God said to Noah, “I will bring an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them and the earth.
- Job 12:6-10 The tents of robbers prosper. Those who provoke God are secure, who carry their god in their hands. “But ask the animals, now, and they will teach you; the birds of the sky, and they will tell you. Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you. The fish of the sea will declare to you. Who doesn’t know that in all these, Yahweh’s hand has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?
- Jeremiah 12:11 They have made it a desolation. It mourns to me, being desolate. The whole land is made desolate, because no one cares.
- Joel 1:18 How the animals groan! The herds of livestock are perplexed, because they have no pasture. Yes, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 20. For to vanity has the creation, etc. He…
20. For to vanity has the creation, etc. He shows the object of expectation from what is of an opposite character; for as creatures, being now subject to corruption, cannot be restored until the sons of God shall be wholly restore; hence they, longing for their renewal, look forward to the manifestation of the celestial kingdom. He says, that they have been subjected to vanity, and for this reason, because they abide not in a constant and durable state, but being as it were evanescent and unstable, they pass away swiftly; for no doubt he sets vanity in opposition to a perfect state.
Not willingly, etc. Since there is no reason in such creatures, their will is to be taken no doubt for their natural inclination, according to which the whole nature of things tends to its own preservation and perfection: whatever then is detained under corruption suffers violence, nature being unwilling and repugnant. But he introduces all parts of the world, by a sort of personification, as being endued with reason; and he does this in order to shame our stupidity, when the uncertain fluctuation of this world, which we see, does not raise our minds to higher things.
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But on account of him, etc. He sets before us an example of obedience in all created things, and adds, that it springs from hope; for hence comes the alacrity of the sun and moon, and of all the stars in their constant courses, hence is the sedulity of the earth’s obedience in bringing forth fruits, hence is the unwearied motion of the air, hence is the prompt tendency to flow in water. God has given to everything its charge; and he has not only by a distinct order commanded what he would to be done, but also implanted inwardly the hope of renovation. For in the sad disorder which followed the fall of Adam, the whole machinery of the world would have instantly become deranged, and all its parts would have failed had not some hidden strength supported them. It would have been then wholly inconsistent that the earnest of the Spirit should be less efficacious in the children of God than hidden instinct in the lifeless parts of creation. How much soever then created things do naturally incline another way; yet as it has pleased God to bring them under vanity, they obey his order; and as he has given them a hope of a better condition, with this they sustain themselves, deferring their desire, until the incorruption promised to them shall be revealed. He now, by a kind of personification, ascribes hope to them, as he did will before.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain God would not make the world subject to everlasting…
God would not make the world subject to everlasting curse, for the sin of man, but gave it hope that it should be restored.
Not by their natural inclination.
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That they should obey the Creator’s commandment, whom it pleased to show by their fickle estate, how greatly he was displeased with man.
Is subject to a vanishing and flitting state.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity,…
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Ver. 20. Subject to vanity] The creature is defiled by man’s sin, and must therefore be purged by the fire of the last day; as the vessels that held the sin offering were purged by the fire of the sanctuary.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain If these words be understood of the world, and…
If these words be understood of the world, and all the creatures therein contained, then they show the creature’s present condition; it is
subject to vanity, and that, either in regard of its insufficiency, it falling short of that for which it was first created and ordained; then a thing is said to be vain, when it doth not answer or reach its proper end: or in respect of its transitoriness and uncertainty, of which see 1Co 7:31; Heb 1:11,12; 1Jo 2:17. The next verse tells us it is subject to the bondage of corruption as well as vanity. Now this must needs be an unwilling subjection, therefore it is here said it is not subject willingly, i.e. of its own accord, or of its proper instinct and inclination. What the will is in those that are rational, the inclination is in those things that are natural; how comes it then into this condition? The next clause tells us, it is
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by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope: i.e. God, for the sin of man, hath cursed the creature, and subjected it to vanity and corruption: see Gen 3:17; 4:12; Lev 26:19,20. And though he hath done this, yet there is ground to expect and hope that the creature shall return again to its former estate wherein it was created; that it shall be delivered and restored into a better condition, as in the next verse. Those that by the creature understand the Gentile world, give a different interpretation of these words; they say that the Gentiles are made subject to vanity, i.e. to idolatry, or a vain, superstitious worship, (idols are called vanities, Act 14:15), or to a miserable, wretched estate; that (as Hesychius notes) is the import of the word vanity. And this not so much of their own accord, or by their own free choice, but by the power and malice of Satan, to whom they are justly given up of God; he rules in their hearts, carries them captive at his will, subjects them to all villany and misery. And it is reasonable to suppose of these poor heathens, that they are willing to be rescued (at least some, and a considerable number of them) from under this vanity and slavery, as it is said, Rom 8:22.
Question. But if he that thus subjects them be the devil, how is he said to do this in hope?
Answer. These words, in hope, belong to the end of the former verse; all the rest of this verse being read or included in a parenthesis: q.d. The creature attends the manifestations of the sons of God in hope: meanwhile it is subject to vanity, &c.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For the creature was made subject to vanity,.... This…
For the creature was made subject to vanity,.... This designs the vanity and emptiness of the minds of the Gentiles, who were without God and Christ, and the Holy Spirit, without the law and Gospel, and grace of God; also the vain conceits they had of themselves, of their wisdom, knowledge, learning, and eloquence; likewise their vain philosophy, particularly their gross idolatry, their polytheism, or worshipping of many gods; together with their divers lusts and vices, to which they were addicted, to such a degree, that they might be truly said to be made subject thereunto, being under the government of these things, slaves unto them, and in such subjection, as that they could not deliver themselves from it; though it is said,
not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. Though they were willingly vain, yet they were not willingly made subject to vanity; they willingly went into idolatrous and other evil practices, but the devil made them subject, or slaves unto them; he led them captive at his will, and powerfully worked in them, by divine permission, so that they became vassals to him, and to their lusts; for he seems to be designed, "by him who hath subjected the same", and not Adam, by whom sin entered into the world.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The creation was made subject to vanity - Abuse,…
The creation was made subject to vanity - Abuse, misery, and corruption. By him who subjected it - Namely, God, Gen. iii, 17, v, 29. Adam only made it liable to the sentence which God pronounced; yet not without hope.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 20. For the creature was made subject to…
Verse 20. For the creature was made subject to vanity] The Gentile world were subject to vanity of mind; but how? not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same. May we not say, it became vain willingly, but was made subject to vanity unwillingly? For, let us recur to the origin of Gentilism, the confusion of languages, by reason of the attempt to build the tower of Babel; and though there are some passages in the gloss of the Targumists upon this matter that are sufficiently ridiculous, yet as to their scope and design they are worthy of notice. "They said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, and let its head reach unto the top of heaven; and let us make a house of worship in the top of it; and let us put a sword in his hand that he may wage war for us against our enemies, before we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." It is an ancient tradition among the Jews, that this tower was built on an idolatrous account. The confusion of tongues, by which true religion was lost in the world, is a proof that the builders of this tower sinned against God in the highest degree. They were inclined to vanity, i.e. idolatry, WILLINGLY; but they were subjected to vanity UNWILLINGLY; for this proceeded from the just indignation and vengeance of God. From this time the world lay under heathenism till the bringing in of the Gospel, upwards of 2000 years after. See Lightfoot.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Rom 8:20-21. For the creature was made subject to…
Rom 8:20-21. For the creature was made subject to vanity — Mankind in general, and the whole visible creation, lost their original beauty, glory, and felicity; a sad change passed on man, and his place of abode; the whole face of nature was obscured, and all creatures were subjected to vanity and wretchedness in a variety of forms. “Every thing seems perverted from its intended use: the inanimate creatures are pressed into man’s rebellion; the luminaries of the heaven give him light by which to work wickedness; the fruits of the earth are sacrificed to his luxury, intemperance, and ostentation; its bowels are ransacked for metals, from which arms are forged, for public and private murder and revenge; or to gratify his avarice, and excite him to fraud, oppression, and war. The animal tribes are subject to pain and death through man’s sin, and their sufferings are exceedingly increased by his cruelty, who, instead of a kind master, is become their inhuman butcher and tyrant. So that every thing is in an unnatural state: the good creatures of God appear evil, through man’s abuse of them; and even the enjoyment originally to be found in them is turned into vexation, bitterness, and disappointment, by his idolatrous love of them, and expectation from them.” — Scott. “Vanity,” says Macknight, “denotes mortality or corruption, Rom 8:21, and all the miseries of the present life. These the apostle expresses by vanity, in allusion to Psa 89:47, where the psalmist, speaking of the same subject, says, Why hast thou made all men in vain? The truth is, if we consider the noble faculties with which man is endowed, and compare them with the occupations of the present life, many of which are frivolous in themselves, and in their effects of short duration, we shall be sensible that the character which Solomon has given of them is just: Vanity of vanities! all is vanity. And if so excellent a creature as man was designed for nothing but to employ the few years of this life in these low occupations, and after that to lose his existence, he would really be made in vain.” Not willingly — Mankind are not made mortal and miserable on account of their own offence, or the personal misconduct of those who are most deeply affected with it; but by him who subjected them — Namely, God; who, for the offence of the first man, adjudged them to this state of suffering and vanity, Gen 3:17-19; Rom 8:29. In hope, &c. — Nevertheless, they were not by that sentence doomed always to remain subject to that vanity and misery; but a ground of hope is afforded; because, οτι, that, the creature itself — Namely, mankind especially; shall be delivered — Ελευθερωθησεται, shall be set free; from the bondage of corruption — From the state of vanity and misery by which they now abuse themselves, and the inferior creatures, and from the mortality, the dread of which made them subject to bondage all their lives. Into the glorious liberty of the children of God — The glorious freedom which the children of God partly enjoy, and shall enjoy more fully, when all the former things are passed away. It is certain the whole creation would be made inconceivably more happy than it is, if that blessed dispensation by which we are introduced into God’s family, and taught to do our utmost to diffuse good to all around us, were universally to prevail. But the bondage of corruption, being here opposed to the freedom of the glory (as the words ελευθεριαν της δοξης literally signify) of the children of God, must especially signify the destruction of the body by death, and the continuation of it in the grave, and of course the freedom of the glory must signify its resurrection and immortality. When this is effected, “Satan, sin, death, misery, and all wicked creatures, will be consigned to hell; and the rest of God’s creation will appear glorious, pure, beautiful, orderly, and happy; in every respect answering the end for which it was formed, and in nothing abused to contrary purposes. See Rev 20:11-15; Rev 21:1-4. The sufferings of animals, though very many and grievous, yet being unfeared and transient, are doubtless overbalanced by their enjoyments; and to infer an individual resurrection of all or any of them from this passage, is surely one of the wildest reveries which ever entered into the mind of a thinking man. The happy effects produced by the gospel, when extensively successful, even in this present world, may be considered as earnests of the glorious scene of which the apostle speaks: but the general resurrection, and the state which follows, were especially, and indeed exclusively meant, for then only will the children of God be manifested as such, and be separated from all others.” — Scott.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For the creature - The renewed creature; the Christian…
For the creature - The renewed creature; the Christian mind. This is given as a reason for its aspiring to the full privileges of adoption, that the present state is not one of choice, or one which is preferred, but one to which it has been subjected for wise reasons by God.
Subject to vanity - The word “subject to” means placed in such a state; subjected to it by the appointment of another, as a soldier has his rank and place assigned him in an army. The word “vanity” here ματαιότης mataiotēs is descriptive of the present condition of the Christian, as frail and dying; as exposed to trials, temptations, and cares; as in the midst of conflicts, and of a world which may be emphatically pronounced vanity. More or less, the Christian is brought under this influence; his joys are marred; his peace is discomposed; his affections wander; his life is a life of vanity and vexation.
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Not willingly - Not voluntarily. It is not a matter of choice. It is not what is congenial to his renewed nature. That would aspire to perfect holiness and peace. But this subjection is one that is contrary to it, and from which he desires to be delivered. This describes substantially the same condition as Rom 7:15-24.
But by reason - By him διά dia. It is the appointment of God, who has chosen to place his people in this condition; and who for wise purposes retains them in it.
Who hath subjected the same - Who has appointed his people to this condition. It is his wise arrangement. Here we may observe,
(1) That the instinctive feelings of Christians lead them to desire a purer and a happier world, Phi 1:23.
(2) That it is not what they desire, to be subjected to the toils of this life, and to the temptations and vanities of this world. They sigh for deliverance.
(3) Their lot in life; their being subjected to this state of vanity, is the arrangement of God. Why it is, he has not seen fit to inform us fully. He might have taken his people at once to heaven as soon as they are converted. But though we know not all the reasons why they are continued here in this state of vanity, we can see some of them:
Christians are subjected to this state to do good to their fellow sinners. They remain on earth for this purpose: and this should be their leading aim. By their remaining here the power of the gospel is shown in overcoming their sin; in meeting their temptations; in sustaining them in trial; and in thus furnishing living evidence to the world of the power and excellency of that gospel. This could not be attained if they were removed at once to heaven. It furnishes occasion for some interesting exhibitions of character - for hope, and faith, and love, and for increasing and progressive excellence. It is a proper training for heaven. It brings out the Christian character, and fits it for the skies. There may be inestimable advantages, all of which we may not see, in subjecting the Christian to a process of training in overcoming his sins, and in producing confidence in God, before he is admitted to his state of final rest. It is fit and proper that he should engage here in the service of Him who has redeemed him. He has been ransomed by the blood of Christ, and God has the highest claim on him in all the conflicts and toils, in all the labors and services to which he may be subjected in this life.
In hope - See the note at Rom 5:4. Hope has reference to the future; and in this state of the Christian, he sighs for deliverance, and expects it.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain For the creature--"the creation."
For the creature--"the creation."
was made subject to vanity, not willingly--that is, through no natural principle of decay. The apostle, personifying creation, represents it as only submitting to the vanity with which it was smitten, on man's account, in obedience to that superior power which had mysteriously linked its destinies with man's. And so he adds
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but by reason of him who hath subjected the same--"who subjected it."
in hope--or "in hope that."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 20. To vanity—To a mortal perishableness in contrast both…
20. To vanity—To a mortal perishableness in contrast both to Adamic immortality and future glorification.
Not willingly—By the primal sentence, against all its own upward aspirations, (Gen_3:17-19.) The word willingly implies that it is not the material or the animal creation that is described, but the human in general, though the Christian is the special subject.
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By reason of him— Said reverentially of God. Man is subjected to vanity under the laws of material nature on account of God’s primeval sentence upon the race for sin. In hope, through a promised renovator, (Gen_3:15,) of the final renovation.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 20. was made subject] Apparently, at the Fall. Not…
20. was made subject] Apparently, at the Fall. Not that there was no animal suffering and death previously. God pronounced His creation “good;” but this “goodness” may mean only goodness in respect to its then work and purpose; and this may have included death and suffering, as in fact it seems to have done. (1Co_15:21 refers to human death, as that alone is in question there.) From Gen_3:17-19 we find that some change for the worse passed over man’s abode when he fell; a change impossible now to define. But it may be that all distress and failure in creation are, in the sight of the Eternal, connected with the entrance of sin, whether or no they have followed the Fall in order of time.
vanity] Same word as Eph_4:17; 2Pe_2:18. The word means evil, whether physical or moral, regarded as (what all evil ultimately proves to be) delusion and failure.
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not willingly] See note just above on “The Creature.” The word here implies merely the absence of personal wrong and demerit in the subject of the change.
by reason of him, &c.] Who was this? It is very difficult to decide whether it is (a) the Tempter, who procured the Fall; (b) Man, who fell; or (c) the Judge who punished the Fall. But we incline to the latter, because the next words point to Hope in a way that suggests the connexion of a Promise with the subjugation.—The sin-caused “vanity” was thus inflicted “by reason of” the righteous doom of God.
in hope] These words form a brief clause by themselves.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (20) For the creature.—The Apostle gives the reason for…
(20) For the creature.—The Apostle gives the reason for this earnest expectation in the present state of nature; pointing out what creation is. If creation were perfect, and were fulfilling the noblest possible purpose, there would be no cause for looking forward hopefully to the future.
Was made subject to vanity.—“Vanity” = “emptiness” or “nothingness.” Creation is fulfilling an unworthy instead of a worthy and noble end. (Comp. Gen_3:17-18.) It was made subject to this “not willingly,” i.e., by its own act or with its own concurrence, but “by reason of Him who hath subjected the same,” i.e., in pursuance of the sovereign purpose and counsel of God. The one thing which takes out the sting from this impoverished and degraded condition is Hope.
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It is needless to say that this is not Darwinism, but it is easily reconcilable with evolution. Indeed, such a theory seems to give it additional force and emphasis. It helps to bring out both the present “vanity” and hope for the future, and to show both as parts of one “increasing purpose” widening through the ages. “Allowing for irregularities and fluctuations, on the whole, higher and higher forms of life have appeared. There has been unquestionably an enormous advance between the times of the Eozoon Canadense and our own. And, further, we have to notice that a new kind of progress, of far greater intrinsic importance than mere physical improvement, has of late appeared. I mean intellectual and moral progress, as it is seen in man. . . . And this progress, I would say, is most important in our argument as to the character of God, for it is full of promise of far better things than this sad world has ever seen. It points most decidedly to a supremacy of the power for good, and a great hope of final happiness for our race.” (Rev. S. T. Gibson, Religion and Science, p. 34.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 20, 21. For the creature (or, creation, as…
Vers. 20, 21. For the creature (or, creation, as before) was subjected to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who subjected it in hope. Because (or, that; i.e. in hope that) the creature (or, creation) also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the sons of God. The aorist upetagh ("was subjected") seems to imply that the present "vanity" and "bondage of corruption" were not inherent in the original Creation, or of necessity to last for ever. Thus the assertions of Genesis 1 and Ge 31, stand unshaken, viz. that in the beginning God created all things, and that all at first was "very good." The ideas, resorted to in order to account for existing evil, of matter (ulh) being essentially evil, and of a dhmiourgov , other than the Supreme God, having made the world, are alike precluded. It might serve as an answer to the argument of Lucretius against a Divine origin of things"Nequaquam nobis divinius esse paratam Naturam rerum, tanta star praedita culpa
Why the "creature" was thus "subjected" is not here explained. No solution of the old insoluble problem of tote kakon is given. All that is, or could be, said is that it was dia toxanta , meaning God. It was his will that it should be so; this is all we know; except that we find the beginning of evil, so far as it affects man, attributed in Scripture to human sin. But he so subjected his creation in hope. This expression may refer to the protoevangelium of Gen_3:15, or to the never-dying hope in the human heart; to either or to both. The latter idea is expressed in the myth of Pandora"s box. Further, the creature is said to have been so subjected "not willingly" (ouc ekousa). No sentient beings acquiesce in suffering; they resent evil, and would fain flee from it. Man especially unwillingly submits to his present bondage. When in ver. 21 the hope is expressed of the creature (or creation) itself being eventually freed from the present bondage of corruption, it may be that the human part of creation only is in the writer"s eye; but it may be also (there being still no expressed limitation of the word ktisiv) that he conceives a final emancipation of the whole creation from evil. (cf. Eph_1:10 1Co_15:23-27 2Pe_3:13) But if so, it is not said that the peculiar glory of the sons of God will extend to all creation, but only that all will be freed into the freedom of their glory; which may mean that the day of the revelation of the sons of God in glory will bring with it a general emancipation of all creation from its present bondage. Such a great final hope finds expression in the verse "That God, which ever lives and loves, One God, one law, one element, And one far-off Divine event, To which the whole creation moves. ("In Memoriam")
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The present condition of things is in ver. 20 denoted by mataiothv , and in ver. 21 by thv douleiav thv fyorav . The first of these words is the equivalent in the LXX of the Hebrew XXX, which means properly "breath," or "vapour," and is used metaphorically for anything frail, fruitless, evanescent, vain. It is often applied to idols, and it is the word in Ecclesiastes where it is said that "all is vanity". (cf. also Psa_39:5, Psa_39:6) It seems here to denote the frailty, incompleteness, transitoriness, to which all things are now subject. Mataiothv sonat frustatio, quod creatura interim non assequatur quod utcunque contendit efficere" (Erasmus). Fyorav intimates corruption and decay.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 20. For the creature was made subject to vanity.…
20. For the creature was made subject to vanity. The creation was subjected to vanity; i. e., became empty; lost its original significance. The Greek word rendered “vanity,” means “to seek without finding.” God placed “the creation” under man's dominion, and when man fell the whole was subject to vanity by God. In hope. A hope was left to creation in its fallen estate. A promise of final redemption was made to fallen man (Gen. 3:15), and the creation is represented as sharing that hope.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 20. “For the creature was made subject to mortality,…
20. “For the creature was made subject to mortality, not willingly, but through him that subordinated it” Nothing loves to die. Hence the body is unwillingly tied up in mortality. We must bear it patiently for the One who put us here will soon make it all right.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of…
For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 For the creation was subjected to futility
For the creation was subjected to futility
You can translate this in an active form. AT: "For God caused what he had created to be unable to achieve what he intended" (See: Active or Passive)
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not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it
Here Paul describes "creation" as a person who can desire. AT: "not because this is what the created things wanted, but because it is what God wanted" (See: Personification)
in the certain hope that the creation itself will be delivered
You can translate this in an active form. AT: "Because God knew that he would save creation" (See: Active or Passive)
from slavery to decay
Here being in slavery to decay is a metaphor for being certain to decay. AT: "from being like a slave to decay" (See: Metaphor)
that it will be brought into the freedom of the glory of the children of God
"Freedom" here is in contrast with slavery to decay. It is a metaphor meaning that the creation will not decay. AT: "that it will become gloriously free from decay like the children of God" (See: Metaphor)
For we know that the whole creation groans and labors in pain together even now
The creation is compared to a woman groaning while giving birth to a baby. AT: "For we know that everything that God created wants to be free and groans for it like a woman giving birth" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
create
will of God
confidence
deliver
servant
free
glory
children
labor pains
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.