Romans 8:20

Romans 8:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
• New International Version (NIV)For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope
• English Standard Version (ESV)For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
• New King James Version (NKJV)For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;

Context of Romans 8:20

18I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us. 19The creation waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time.

Romans 8:20 word by word

τῇ γὰρ ματαιότητι ἡ κτίσις ὑπετάγη, οὐχ ἑκοῦσα ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸν ὑποτάξαντα, ἐφ᾽ ἑλπίδιRead the interlinear

• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• theὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• creationκτίσιςktisis · creationG2937
• was subjectedὑποτάσσωhupotassō · to subjectG5293
• futilityματαιότηςmataiotēs · futilityG3153
• notοὐou · noG3756
• by its own willἑκώνhekōn · voluntarilyG1635
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• because ofδιάdia · through/because ofG1223
• inἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
• hopeἐλπίςelpis · hopeG1680

Cross-references for Romans 8:20

• Romans 8:22We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time.
• Genesis 3:17And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
• Genesis 5:29And he named him Noah, saying, “May this one comfort us in the labor and toil of our hands caused by the ground that the LORD has cursed.”
• Genesis 6:13Then God said to Noah, “The end of all living creatures has come before Me, because through them the earth is full of violence. Now behold, I will destroy both them and the earth.
• Job 12:6The tents of robbers are safe, and those who provoke God are secure— those who carry their god in their hands.
• Isaiah 24:5The earth is defiled by its people; they have transgressed the laws; they have overstepped the decrees and broken the everlasting covenant.
• Jeremiah 12:4How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said, “He cannot see what our end will be.”
• Jeremiah 14:5Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass.
• Hosea 4:3Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea disappear.
• Joel 1:18How the cattle groan! The herds wander in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

Commentaries on Romans 8:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20For 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…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20For 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…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-25Verses 18-25 The sufferings of the saints strike no deeper than the things of time, last no longer than the present time, are light afflictions, and but for a moment. How vastly different are the sentence of the word and the sentiment of the world, concerning the sufferings of this present time! Indeed the whole creation seems to wait with earnest expectation for the period when the children of God shall be manifested in the glory prepared for them. There…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19-21creation: This includes animals, plants, and the earth itself. Paul follows the pattern found in the Old Testament by speaking about creation as if it were a person (see especially Psalm 65:12–13; Isaiah 24:4; Jeremiah 4:28; 12:4). waits in eager expectation for: Just as Adam’s sin brought harm to the whole created world, creation will also share in the blessings God has promised to his people. This hope includes the renewal of the earth itself (for…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 19-2219-22. For, &c.--"The apostle, fired with the thought of the future glory of the saints, pours forth this splendid passage, in which he represents the whole creation groaning under its present degradation, and looking and longing for the revelation of this glory as the end and consummation of its existence" [Hodge]. the earnest expectation--(compare Php 1:20). of the creature--rather, "the creation." waiteth for the manifestation--"is waiting for the…Read the comment

Topics related to Romans 8:20

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Earth
• Holy Spirit
• Suffering
• Vanity

In the dictionaries

• Adoption
• Allow
• Bondage
• Carnal
• Creature
• Enmity
• Fear
• Flesh
• Foreknow
• Glorify

Commentaries on Romans 8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings