Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope,
Parallel translations
- WEB For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
- KJV For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
- BSB For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope
- NKJV For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;
- NASB For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Creation was subjected to futility by God, yet not without hope. The curse on creation was purposeful and aimed toward a hopeful end.
Overview
Paul recalls that creation was made subject to frustration, a reference to the curse following the fall. This subjection came by God's own ordaining, 'because of him who subjected it,' yet it was joined to hope. Creation's bondage is therefore not meaningless but oriented toward future deliverance.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Gen 3:17–19To 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.
- Gen 5:29He 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.”
- Rom 8:22For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.
- Jer 12:4How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of the whole country wither? For the wickedness of those who dwell therein, the animals are consumed, and the birds; because they said, “He shall not see our latter end.”
- Isa 24:5–6The earth also is polluted under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.
- Jer 14:5–6Yes, the hind also in the field calves, and forsakes her young, because there is no grass.
- Hos 4:3Therefore the land will mourn, and everyone who dwells therein will waste away. 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.
- Eccl 1:2“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
- Gen 6:13God 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 12:6–10The tents of robbers prosper. Those who provoke God are secure, who carry their God in their hands.
- Joel 1:18How the animals groan! The herds of livestock are perplexed, because they have no pasture. Yes, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
- Jer 12:11They have made it a desolation. It mourns to me, being desolate. The whole land is made desolate, because no man lays it to heart.
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 8:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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