SEV Biblia, Chapter 8:19
Porque la esperanza solícita de las criaturas espera la manifestacin de los hijos de Dios.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Romans 8:19
Verse 19. For the earnest expectation of the creature] There is considerable difficulty in this and the four following verses: and the difficulty lies chiefly in the meaning of the word h ktisiv, which we translate the creature, and creation. Some think that by it the brute creation is meant; others apply it to the Jewish people; others to the godly; others to the Gentiles; others to the good angels; and others to the fallen spirits, both angelic and human. Dissertations without end have been written on it; and it does not appear that the Christian world are come to any general agreement on the subject. Dr. Lightfoot's mode of explanation appears to me to be the best, on the whole. "There is," says he, "a twofold key hanging at this place, which may unlock the whole, and make the sense plain and easy. 1. The first is the phrase, pasa h ktisiv, which we render the whole creation, ver. 22, and with which we meet twice elsewhere in the New Testament. Mark xvi. 15: Preach the Gospel, pash th ktisei, to every creature; and Col. i. 23: The Gospel was preached, en pash th ktisei, to every creature. Now it is sufficiently apparent what is meant by pasa ktisiv in both these places, viz. all nations, or the heathen world. For that which in St. Mark is, preach the Gospel to every creature, is, in St. Matthew, go and teach, panta ta eqnh, all nations.
And this very phrase in this place lays claim to that very interpretation.
And the Hebrew twyrbh lk col habberioth, which answers to the Greek pasa h ktisiv, every creature, is applied by the Jews to the Gentiles, and that by way of opposition to Israel.
2. The second key is the word mataiothti, ver. 20, which is not unfitly rendered vanity; but then this vanity is improperly applied to the vanishing, dying, changing state of the creation. For mataiothv, vanity, does not so much denote the vanishing condition of the outward state, as it does the inward vanity or emptiness of the mind. So the apostle, speaking of the Gentiles concerning whom he speaks here, tells us emataiwqhsan, They became vain in their imaginations, chap. i. 21; and again, The Gentiles walk en mataiothti, in the vanity of their mind, Ephesians iv. 17; so also, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, oti eisi mataioi, that they are vain, 1 Cor. iii. 20. To all which let me add this farther observation, that throughout this whole place the apostle seems to allude to the bondage of the Israelites in Egypt, and their deliverance from it; with a comparison made betwixt the Jewish and the Gentile Church. When God would deliver Israel from his bondage, he challenges him for his Son, and his first-born, Exod. iv. 22. And in like manner the Gentiles earnestly expect and wait for such a kind of manifestation of the sons of God, within and among themselves. The Romans, to whom the apostle writes, knew well how many predictions and promises it had pleased God to publish by his prophets, concerning gathering together and adopting sons to himself among the Gentiles; the manifestation of which sons the whole Gentile world with a neck as it were stretched out, as the word apokaradokia implies, (apo, from, and kara, the head, and dokaw, to expect,) doth now wait for." See the observations at the end of this chapter.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 19. For the earnest expectation of the creature , etc..] Some by the creature understand the universe, all created beings animate and inanimate, which having suffered much by the sin of man, are introduced by a rhetorical figure, as waiting for deliverance and a restoration to their paradisiacal estate; but some part of the world is manifestly distinguished from them, ( Romans 8:23), others think that angels are here meant, who being obliged to minister to sinful men, are represented as groaning and longing for the time when all the children of God shall be brought in, that they may be dismissed from their service; but what is said of subjection to vanity, of the bondage of corruption, and of their groaning and travailing in pain, can never agree with such happy spirits: others suppose that men in general are designed, being by sin brought into a state of bondage and corruption, subjected to vanity, attended with troubles, and liable to death, and so groan under their present miseries for deliverance; but to desire anything of a spiritual nature cannot be ascribed to men in general; and besides, as before observed, some persons are distinguished from them, ( Romans 8:23), others have been of opinion, that the new creature, or renewed persons, are here intended, who being burdened with indwelling sin, groan under it, long for deliverance from it, and are waiting for the heavenly glory; but these cannot be said to be in a state of bondage to corruption, for they are freed from the dominion of sin, and are become the servants of righteousness. It is best of all by the creature to understand the Gentile world. The creature here, and the whole creation, ( Romans 8:22), must be the same; now the phrase pasa ktisiv , the whole creation, or every creature, as it may be rendered, signifies the nations of the world, in distinction to the Jews; (see Mark 16:15 Colossians 1:23); compared with ( Matthew 28:19) and answers to twyrb , the creatures; by which name the Jews often in their writings call the Gentiles, to distinguish them from the Israelites. Take two or three instances, as follow, let your commerce (say they f150 ), etc.. be in a peaceable manner, twyrbh [ , with the creatures; what do the creatures say concerning him? such an one, blessed be his father who taught him the law, blessed be his master who taught him the law; woe twyrbl hl , to the creatures, because they learn not the law; such an one who hath learned the law, they observe how beautiful are his ways, and how well ordered his works; of him it is written, saying, and said unto me, thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified, ( Isaiah 49:3); where the creatures and the Israelites are evidently distinguished from one another: again f151 , woe twyrbl hl , to the creatures, who know not, nor have they any regard for the service of their Creator; for it is a tradition, (says R. Isaac,) that Bath Kol, or a voice, goes out every day from Mount Horeb, and says, woe twyrbl hl , to the creatures, because of the service of their Creator.
And a little after, if twyrbh , the creatures, knew the love with which the holy blessed God loves Israel, they would roar like young lions to follow after him.
Once more f152 , ``all the prayer twyrbh l , of the creatures, is only for the earth; Lord let the earth be fruitful, Lord let the earth prosper; all the prayer lary l , of the Israelites, is only for the house of the Lord, Lord let the house of the sanctuary be built.
Now what the creature, the Gentile world, is represented as earnestly waiting, and wistly looking out for, is the manifestation of the sons of God ; which is made first at their conversion, and afterwards openly and more fully at the appearance of Christ in the resurrection morn. There is a manifestation of the sons of God, at conversion. They that are the sons of God, are his sons before by divine predestination, and through the covenant of grace; as such they were given to Christ; and under this character, and as standing in this relation, he assumed their nature, and died for them, in order to gather them together; and indeed, this previous relation is the ground and foundation of the Spirit of Christ being sent down into their hearts, to manifest their adoption to them; for before conversion, it is not manifested, neither to themselves nor others, but then it is in some measure made known. This may in a particular manner be applied to the Gentiles, and God's elect among them.
They were the sons of God before they were manifested as such; they are spoken of in prophecy as in that relation; (see Isaiah 45:11); and seemed to be designed chiefly, if not altogether, by the children of God scattered abroad, in ( John 11:51,52). These were not known, nor looked upon by the Jews, to be the children of God; but when the Gospel came in among them, as the power of God, it manifested them to be such: so that where it was formerly said, ye are not my people, there it is said, ye are the sons of the living God, ( Hosea 1:10). But the full manifestation of the sons of God will be in their glorification at Christ's second coming; when they shall be openly taken into God's family, and shall be owned by Christ in this relation, before angels and men; they will appear in themselves otherwise than now they do; they will be put into the possession of the inheritance they are adopted to, and will have that honour and dignity which belong to their character actually conferred on them; so that they shall appear, not only to themselves, but to all the world, to be what they are: now this, in the whole compass of it, the Gentiles might be said to be in earnest expectation of, and waiting for. They may be said, in some sense, to expect and wait for the manifestation of the Son of God himself, the Messiah, who is called the desire of all nations, ( Haggai 2:7): for it was promised, that to him should the gathering, ( Genesis 49:10), or, as some read it, the expectation of the people, or nations be: they also waited for his law, his doctrine, the everlasting Gospel, ( Isaiah 42:4), and when that was come among them, and became the power of God to the salvation of many of them, this raised in them an earnest expectation of many, of multitudes of the sons of God being manifested among them, according to several prophecies of the Old Testament, which largely speak of this matter; and they continue to wait for the bringing in of the fulness of them in the latter day, and for the ultimate glory, which all the sons of God, whether Jews or Gentiles, shall enjoy together.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 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 glor prepared for them. There is an impurity, deformity, and infirmity which has come upon the creature by the fall of man. There is an enmit of one creature to another. And they are used, or abused rather, by me as instruments of sin. Yet this deplorable state of the creation is in hope. God will deliver it from thus being held in bondage to man' depravity. The miseries of the human race, through their own and eac other's wickedness, declare that the world is not always to continue a it is. Our having received the first-fruits of the Spirit, quickens ou desires, encourages our hopes, and raises our expectations. Sin ha been, and is, the guilty cause of all the suffering that exists in the creation of God. It has brought on the woes of earth; it has kindle the flames of hell. As to man, not a tear has been shed, not a groa has been uttered, not a pang has been felt, in body or mind, that ha not come from sin. This is not all; sin is to be looked at as i affects the glory of God. Of this how fearfully regardless are the bul of mankind! Believers have been brought into a state of safety; but their comfort consists rather in hope than in enjoyment. From this hop they cannot be turned by the vain expectation of finding satisfactio in the things of time and sense. We need patience, our way is rough an long; but He that shall come, will come, though he seems to tarry.
Greek Textus Receptus
η 3588 T-NSF γαρ 1063 CONJ αποκαραδοκια 603 N-NSF της 3588 T-GSF κτισεως 2937 N-GSF την 3588 T-ASF αποκαλυψιν 602 N-ASF των 3588 T-GPM υιων 5207 N-GPM του 3588 T-GSM θεου 2316 N-GSM απεκδεχεται 553 5736 V-PNI-3S
Vincent's NT Word Studies
19. Earnest expectation (apokaradokia). Only here and Philippians i. 20. From ajpo away kara the head, dokein to watch. A watching with the head erect or outstretched. Hence a waiting in suspense.'Apo from, implies abstraction, the attention turned from other objects. The classical student will recall the watchman in the opening of Aeschylus'"Agamemnon," awaiting the beacon which is to announce the capture of Troy.Creature (ktisewv). The word may signify either the creative act (as i. 20), or the thing created (Mark x. 6; xiii. 19; xvi. 15; Col. i. 23; Heb. iv. 13). See on 1 Pet. ii. 13. Here in the latter sense. The interpretations vary: 1. The whole unredeemed creation, rational and irrational. 2. All creation, except humanity. The point of difference is the inclusion or exclusion of humanity. The second explanation is preferable, the non-rational creation viewed collectively, animate and inanimate. Equivalent to all nature.
Waiteth (apekdecetai). Only in Paul and Heb. ix. 28. The whole passage, with the expressions waiting, sighing, hoping, bondage, is poetical and prophetic. Compare Psalm xix. 2; Isa. xi. 6; xiv. 8; lv. 12; lxv. 17; Ezek. xxxi. 15; 37.; Hab. ii. 11.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
8:19 {The earnest expectation of creation} (he apokaradokia tes ktisews). this substantive has so far been found nowhere save here and #Php 1:20, though the verb apokaradoke" is common in Polybius and Plutarch. Milligan (_Vocabulary_) thinks that Paul may have made the substantive from the verb. It is a double compound (apo, off from, kara, head, dokew, Ionic verb, to watch), hence to watch eagerly with outstretched head. {Waiteth for} (apekdechetai). See on 1Co 1:7; Ga 5:5 for this rare word (possibly formed by Paul, Milligan). "To wait it out" (Thayer). {The revealing of the sons of God} (tn apokaluyin t"n hui"n tou qeou). Cf. #1Jo 3:2; 2Th 2:8; Col 3:4. this mystical sympathy of physical nature with the work of grace is beyond the comprehension of most of us. But who can disprove it?
