EXPECT; EXPECTATION

eks-pekt', eks-pek-ta'-shun: Of the three Greek words, translated in the New Testament by "expect," prosdokao, meaning to look forward toward what will probably occur, whether in hope or dread (Acts 3:5; Luke 3:15), is not as intense as ekdechomai (Hebrews 10:13), meaning to wait for that of the realization of which one is assured ("as the husbandman waits for the processes of Nature (James 5:7), and the patriarchs for the Divine promise," Westcott), or as vivid as the noun apokaradokia (Romans 8:19; Philippians 1:20, "earnest expectation"), which describes the stretching forth of the head toward an object that is anticipated (see Ellicott on Philippians 1:20). In the Old Testament "expectation" always means that which is expected, as Proverbs 10:28, "The expectation of the wicked shall perish."

H. E. Jacobs

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.