THE FULL ARTICLE — from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), general editor James Orr — public domain, printed whole.

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 (Ac 3:5; Lu 3:15), is not as intense as ekdechomai (Heb 10:13), meaning to wait for that of the realization of which one is assured ("as the husbandman waits for the processes of Nature (Jas 5:7), and the patriarchs for the Divine promise," Westcott), or as vivid as the noun apokaradokia (Ro 8:19; Php 1:20, "earnest expectation"), which describes the stretching forth of the head toward an object that is anticipated (see Ellicott on Php 1:20). In the Old Testament "expectation" always means that which is expected, as Pr 10:28, "The expectation of the wicked shall perish."

H. E. Jacobs