tion was not voluntary, but imposed by God. 3. That it was never designed to be final.
The creature is subject to vanity. As remarked above (ch. 1 : 21), vanity and wickedness are very nearly associated ideas in the Scripture; vain or foolish being often synonymous with cm-rupt or wicked. Vanity^ therefore, is interchanged with corruption in the next verse, and expresses both the idea of frailty (corruption), and consequently misery. It is the opposite of the glorious state expected, and, therefore, expresses every thing which distinguishes unfavourably the present from the glorious future. To this state the creature was made subject, no^ willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. Not willingly, i. e. not of its own accord. The state of corruption is one to which it was loath to be made subject, and from which it would fain be delivered. Or, not by its own free act, but the act of another. Which idea should be preferred depends on the manner in which the next clause is understood.
By reason of him who hath subjected. The original may mean either, on account of him, &c., or by him. If the former rendering be preferred, the passage means, ' The creature was made subject to its present degraded condition, not from any fondness for it, but out of regard to the authority of God.' If the latter, the meaning is, ' This subjection was not the result of the voluntary act of the creature, but was effected by God.' The former is best suited to the usual force of this preposition here used, when con- nected with the accusative, but the latter gives the better sense ; and is by no means inconsistent with the use of the preposition in question, and is, therefore, to be preferred. The words in hope may be connected either with the immediately preceding clause, God hath subjected it in hope ; or with the previous member of the sentence, ' The creature was made subject to vanity (not voluntarily, but by God) in hope.'* That is, the subjection was not hopeless, see Acts 2 : 26. The latter mode is much to be preferred on account of the following verse.
(21) Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bond- age of corruption, &c. This verse, according to our version, assigns the reason why the subjection of the creature was not hopeless. This rea- son is, that the creature was to share in the glorious redemption. The particle, however, rendered because, may be rendered that, and the verse then indicates the object of the hope just spoken of. The subjection was with the hope that the creature should be delivered. In either way the sense is nearly the same. The creature itself also is another of the forms of expression which show that Paul speaks of the creation in a sense which does not embrace the children of God. Bond-age of corrup- tion,^ i. e. bondage to corruption. The state of frailty and degradation spoken of above.
Delivered, or liberated into the liberty, is an elliptical form of expres- sion for ^Delivered and introduced into the liberty.'' Liberty of glory, as the words literally mean, or glorious liberty, refer to that liberty which consists in, or is connected with the glory which is the end and