David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave.
Parallel translations
- WEB he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was his soul left in Hades, nor did his flesh see decay.
- KJV He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
- BSB Foreseeing this, David spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did His body see decay.
- NKJV he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.
- NASB he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay.
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
David foresaw and spoke of the Christ's resurrection, that He would not be left in Hades nor see decay. It confirms Jesus as the fulfillment of Psalm 16.
Overview
Peter concludes that David prophesied the Messiah's resurrection. The one not abandoned to death or decay is Christ, now risen. This ties the Old Testament promise directly to the historical resurrection of Jesus.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Acts 2:27because you will not leave my soul in Hades, neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.
- Ps 16:10For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption.
- Acts 13:35Therefore he says also in another psalm, ‘You will not allow your Holy One to see decay.’
- 1 Pet 1:11–12searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, pointed to, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that would follow them.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 2:31 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.