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Bible Dictionaries
Expect, Expectation
Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words
or lit. and primarily, "to take or receive from" (ek, "from," dechomai, "to receive"), hence denotes "to await, expect," the only sense of the word in the NT; it suggests a reaching out in readiness to receive something; "expecting," Hebrews 10:13; "expect," 1 Corinthians 16:11 , RV (AV, "look for"); to wait for, John 5:3 (AV only); Acts 17:16; 1 Corinthians 11:33 , RV (AV, "tarry for"); James 5:7; to wait, 1 Peter 3:20 in some mss.; "looked for," Hebrews 11:10 . Cp. B, No. 1. See LOOK , TARRY , WAIT.
"to watch toward, to look for, expect" (pros, "toward," dokeo, "to think:" dokao "does not exist"), is translated "expecting" in Matthew 24:50; Luke 12:46 , RV (AV, "looketh for"); Luke 3:15 , "were in expectation;" Acts 3:5 , "expecting" (AV and RV); Acts 28:6 (twice), "expected that," RV (AV, "looked when") and "when they were long in expectation" (AV, "after they had looked a great while"). See LOOK , TARRY , WAIT.
primarily "a watching with outstretched head" (apo, "from," kara, "the head," and dokeo, "to look, to watch"), signifies "strained expectancy, eager longing," the stretching forth of the head indicating an "expectation" of something from a certain place, Romans 8:19; Philippians 1:20 . The prefix apo suggests "abstraction and absorption" (Lightfoot), i.e., abstraction from anything else that might engage the attention, and absorption in the object expected "till the fulfillment is realized" (Alford). The intensive character of the noun, in comparsion with No. 2 (below), is clear from the contexts; in Romans 8:19 it is said figuratively of the creation as waiting for the revealing of the sons of God ("waiting" translates the verb apekdechomai, a strengthened form of A, No. 1; see WAIT FOR). In Philippians 1:20 the Apostle states it as his "earnest expectation" and hope, that, instead of being put to shame, Christ shall be magnified in his body, "whether by life, or by death," suggesting absorption in the person of Christ, abstraction from aught that hinders.
"a watching for, expectation" (akin to A, No. 2, which see), is used in the NT only of the "expectation" of evil, Luke 21:26 , RV, "expectation," AV, "looking for," regarding impending calamities; Acts 12:11 , "the expectation" of the execution of Peter.
primarily "a receiving from," hence "expectation" (akin to A, No. 1), is used in Hebrews 10:27 (RV, "expectation;" AV, "looking for"), of judgment.
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Vines, W. E., M. A. Entry for 'Expect, Expectation'. Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ved/e/expect-expectation.html. 1940.
