Acts 2:25

Act_2:25-28

For David speaketh concerning Him.

A prophetic panorama of the life of Jesus

These words of David show Jesus--

I. In His relation to the Father.

1. He had a constant recollection of God. I saw the Lord always, etc. In His early life He said, Wist ye not that I must be about My Fathers business? And when the end drew near He said, I must work, etc. His faithful people are in this respect like Him in their degrees.

2. He had a constant assurance of the Divine presence--He is on My right hand. He could speak to the Father anywhere, and be sure that He was always heard. It is granted also to His true disciples to have like gracious freedom of access.

3. He fully accepted and entered into the Divine purpose as to His life. He was not to be moved. The evils through which He had to pass would have shaken one less fixed in soul. So may each of us overcome in the day of conflict.

II. In a state of delight. Therefore did My heart rejoice. Of this delight note--

1. That it was reasonable. Therefore. Why? Because Jesus stood in a proper relation to God. Some seek delight when they are not right towards God. This is irrational.

2. Affected the whole man. The heart rejoiced, and the tongue was glad, and the flesh rested. So His servant Paul, though always sorrowful, was always rejoicing. Oh, blessed paradox!

3. Tinged the dark future with light. My flesh also shall rest in hope. An unknown experience lay before Him in prospect, and He naturally shrank from it; but such was His delight that He could steadily go forward to His appointed lot. He knew that no evil could befall Him, though He must pass through the kingdom of the dead. So are His servants upheld and comforted in death by thoughts of heaven.

4. Was brought to its fulness by His resurrection and ascension. Ways of life were made known to Jesus by experience when He laboured among men. When men thought He had gone finally in the way of death, the way of victorious life was made known in His resurrection. Thus was His joy enhanced in ways and degrees known only to Himself. And that joy reached its fulness when He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Full of joy with Thy countenance. His people are to sit with Him upon His throne, as He sits on the Fathers throne. Then they shall hunger no more, etc. Conclusion: See here--

1. The unity of Holy Scripture. Christ is its chief subject. Its main purpose is the setting forth of the truth concerning Him. Peter pointed out allusion to Him where it had not been previously seen; and from His Person there shines a light in which many obscurities disappear.

2. The privileges of those who are complete in Christ. By His grace they are brought into proper relations to God, and have thenceforward meat to eat which the world knows not of His salvation transcends all other good. (W. Hudson.)

Thou shalt not leave My soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption.

Christs descent into hell and rising again from the dead

St. Peter, in a short but notable sermon, demonstrates Jesus to be the Messiah. The Holy One of God, the Lord, the Christ.

1. From the miracles He did in His lifetime, they being witnesses of the same (Act_2:22).

2. By the fulfilling of prophecy. In being not only rejected by His own, but crucified by them, according to the determinate counsel of God (Act_2:23).

3. From the wonders He did, not in life only, but in death. He brake through the bonds of it; the grave could not detain His body, nor Hades His soul. And this according to prophecy and promise (Psa_16:10), which is the apostles quotation and my text. In discussing this doctrine, I will show--

I. What is the meaning of Christs soul being in hell? For, with respect to His Godhead, we may say of Him in the words of the Psalmist (Psa_139:7-8). But our discourse is of the soul of the Messiah, and that was for a while in hell; not in a state of torment. But the soul of the Messiah, when He gave up His ghost, passed into the receptacle of blessed souls, into that paradise where the redeemed and pardoned are lodged, and where with Him went the repenting thief on the cross (Luk_23:43). It is this receptacle of good souls, this paradise for those that die in Christ, that is called Hades; that is, an invisible state, a being, though in a remote region, which eye cannot reach or penetrate. I confess it is a hard matter to beat out of the vulgar heads the gross conception of the word hell, which sounds to them no other than horror, and blackness of darkness, and fire and brimstone. A place very improper to look for the soul of Christ when departed out of His body, for Him and His betrayer Judas to meet in the same place. He that had by death purchased heaven for others, Himself after death to descend into hell. This, therefore, cannot be; no, is not the meaning of the word hell where Christ went. He came not near that abyss, nor was at all among those reprobated crew. The true, easy, and natural sense of Hades is an invisible region. Objection: If Hades means paradise, why should Christ pray against His being left in Hades, as He hopes His body shall not see corruption? Answer: He doth not pray thus, as if it were not well with His soul in Hades, as to what He enjoyed. For His soul was the soul of the Messiah, the soul of a Redeemer, a soul that was to conquer death, and not to stay any considerable time from His body born of the Virgin Mary. He had work to do which other souls had not; He was to rise for others justification. He was to ascend into the holy of holiest, as the great High Priest of our souls; and therefore He must return to His body, that He may as God-Man in human flesh for ever enter into glory. As if He should say, Thou wilt not leave Me unto death; that is, My soul in separation. This would be the triumph of the devil.

II. The occasion and reason of this article being inserted in our creed. Not that it was there at first, but it came in afterward, and that occasioned by a new heresy that started up in the Church; and therefore to obviate that this article was added as a truth provable from Scripture, that Christ went into Hades. The error was this, that Christ had no proper intellectual or rational soul. Which heresy was begun and propagated by one Apollonius and his followers. That the Word or the Divinity supplied the place of a soul, and that therefore He was not properly dead when His body was in the grave. But in opposition to this error, the Christians assert that Christ had a human soul, that it underwent all the offices of one in the body and out of the body. And when He was crucified, and by the pains of that disposed for a resignation of His Spirit, He gave it up to God, and waited upon His disposal of it. For all souls are to return to the Father of spirits, to be consigned to the state or place they are meet for. And the soul of the Messiah went to the apartment of separated souls, that is, of good and righteous ones.

1. That we are assured that we are when we go hence. And the disciples of Christ go to Paradise, as He did. I do not say they go into the heaven of heavens, for that Christ did not Himself until He reassumed His body. But when they are not as to mortal eye they shall be. This day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise. Thy soul and Mine shall go together to the assembly of the firstborn. The dissolution of our bodies shall not break off our being; the soul, the better part, is, even in the state of separation. They enter into rest, not a cessation of being or a rest of sleep. But they rest in hope, they live in a joyful expectation of a more glorious appearance. Our Saviours return to reassume His body gave an ocular demonstration of the immortality both of body and soul.

2. A God incarnate takes actual care both of our bodies and souls, in every state after we come into the body; in life, in death, and after death. A God incarnate, I say; for so was the Lord of glory that was crucified for us, that died, and rose again from the dead (Joh_10:17-18). And this power He exerts not only for Himself, but all His followers. He is with them in life, in death, in the body, and out of the body. He dwells with them by His Spirit while in the tabernacle of the flesh; and when out of the body they are with the Lord. He beams His light of glory into the regions they are in, for a while, as separate from the body. He never leaves them nor forsakes them. St. Stephen, under a shower of stones, looked up stedfastly into heaven, arid saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God (Act_7:55). And some such like manifestations separate souls have of their glorified Saviour, which makes them wait with joy for a farther salvation.

3. That a separation hereafter will be ever made betwixt the righteous and unrighteous. Our Saviour in the state of separation had nothing to do with the damned; He gave them no visit. He went not into hell in this sense.

4. Nothing shall withhold us from returning unto the body when the time of reunion comes.

III. The incorruptibility of His body. It was not to see corruption. Though the soldiers gave Him His death wounds, yet they did not fester, nor His body see corruption. The immaculate Lamb was without spot; He was pierced, but He was not putrified; He was butchered, but not blemished. His body was cast into the grave, but it did not see corruption. Worms were neither His brothers nor sisters. His body was of a purer make, and had none of that taint that could attract such vermin. I shall represent to you some considerations why Christs body was not to see corruption.

1. Because He was in three days to reassume it, according to promise, and His own prediction. His body was not to be a mortal body as ours, to return to dust. That was the melancholy sentence passed on the posterity of Adam, but not to reach him that is the second Adam, who was though the son of Adam, as says St. Luke, yet not according to an ordinary generation. He had said, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again; and He spake, says the text, of the temple His body (Joh_2:21).

2. His body was not to see corruption because He was the second Adam, and was not under the guilt of the first. He was the Lord from heaven and the Lord of glory; and His body was to be a glorious body. His body was never stained by sin or sickness, and His death wounds only opened a passage for His Spirit; but the cabinet, though broken or bruised, was not disjointed. The temple was destroyed without dislocation of any part. The first Adam brought in sin and death into the world; the second, life and immortality. An argument which the apostle pursues, in 1Co_15:47, The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. Our natures, as derivative from a sinner, are decreed to death and dissolution, and must sink into the same principle of which they are compounded, but the second Man is the Lord from heaven--the Lord of life and immortality. And therefore, in verse 45, the apostle styles Him a quickening Spirit, keeping His body tenantable, though He went out of it; and not only so, but He was Lord of His own body, and none other had power and dominion over it. None, nor anything, could assault His body laid up as in a repository for His returning.

3. His body was not to see corruption because He was, as the Christian High Priest, to enter into the Holy of Holiest, as the first fruits of the dead. So our apologist, St. Peter, verse 29, etc. This spiritual High Priest must enter into the Holy of Holiest, with all His body and soul clean, and clear, pure and perfect, radiant and glorious; the true regalia that adorned the investiture of this High Priest. The Christian High Priest was to be a freeman, not a prisoner. He was not to enter with shackles, but rather with the armature of a glorious Victor (Eph_6:13).

The doctrinal part of this sermon speaks comfort to us all that should enliven us and fill us with joy in believing.

1. The same Lord Jesus that raised and reassumed His own body, shall raise ours, and make them like His glorious body (Php_3:21).

2. Because Christ is our Lord, He hath redeemed our bodies by His precious blood, and He sacrificed His body for ours, and we have dedicated our bodies to Him, and He is Lord of our bodies. Not only our souls, but our bodies are redeemed by Him from the grave, and here is the state of the dead.

3. That Christ raised His own body. But I am not preaching to infidels, but believers: and we know that because Christ is risen we also shall arise, and our bodies shall be made like Christs body. For--

4. Christ will do this great work by taking away all those corruptible qualities and infirmities to which our bodies are liable, both living and dead. That this vile body may be refined, and free from decay, being made like the glorified body of Jesus after the resurrection.

5. The instrument by which our Lord shall effect this wonder, even by His omnipotence. Why, says the same apostle, should it be thought impossible that God should raise the dead?

6. We conclude that a spiritual resurrection in this life must precede the blessed and glorious resurrection to eternal life. It is for the sake of a raised mind that the body shall be like Christs glorious body; for we must not expect to have a part in the resurrection of the just, unless in this life we commence such men. (W. Allen, D. D.)

Thou hast made known to me the ways of life.--

The experience and prospect of a real Christian

This exulting language (quoted from Psa_16:11) may be adopted by those who believe in Christ, and have a lively sense of interest in His salvation.

I. The language of devout gratitude. Thou hast made known, etc. Compared with such a communication, every other kind of knowledge is insignificant. The ways which are worthy to be called ways of life are made known by none except the Almighty. The life to which they lead us is the life of faith, holiness, and peace in the present world, and the life of inconceivable excellence and delight in the world to come. The ways of life may therefore justly be called the ways of God. He has prepared these ways; in the gospel He reveals them; and, by the influence of His Spirit, He conducts into them. Nor are these ways merely made known to a Christian--he occupies them, and recommends them; they are his delight; in them he meets God, and communes with Him. Thus he grows in grace and likeness to the Divine image.

II. The language of devout expectation. Thou shalt make me, etc.

1. Christians already find that sin has lost its commanding influence; but they anticipate its entire extinction and their complete deliverance from all evil.

2. Christians anticipate a removal out of the world.

3. Christians anticipate the successful termination of their conflict with invisible principalities and powers.

4. Christians anticipate eternal intercourse with each other, and with all the angels of God.

5. Hence we are led to the richest view of the prospect with which Christians are indulged--they anticipate a vision all Divine. Thou shalt make me full of joy with Thy countenance. (O. A. Jeary.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 2:25-28. For David speaketh concerning him — Namely, Psa 16:8-11, where see the notes. I foresaw the Lord always before my face — In the Psalm, according to the Hebrew, it is, I have set the Lord always before me. Our Lord Jesus had a constant regard to his Father in his whole undertaking. He set his Father’s glory before him as his end, and his Father’s will as his rule, in every part of it. And he foresaw that his sufferings would redound abundantly to the honour of God, and would issue in his own everlasting joy and felicity. These things were set before him, and these he had an eye to in all he did and suffered; and with the prospect of these, he was supported and carried on. He is on my right hand — The instrument of action, strengthening, upholding, and guiding it; that I should not be moved — Shaken in, or driven from, my undertaking, by the hardships I must undergo. Therefore, &c. — On account of the firm confidence I had in him, that I should be supported in, and carried through all my labours and sufferings, and that they should have a glorious issue; my heart rejoiced in the midst of them; and my tongue was glad — Praised God in a joyful manner. In the Psalm it is, My glory rejoiceth: for our tongue is our glory; the faculty of speech is an honour to us; and never more so than when it is employed in praising God. Moreover my flesh shall rest in hope — The grave shall be to my body a bed of repose, and I shall cheerfully deliver it up to be laid there, in hope of a blessed resurrection. Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell — Εις αδου, in the invisible world. For it does not appear that ever our Lord’s soul went into what we call hell. On the contrary, when it was separated from the body, it went to paradise, Luk 23:43. The meaning is, Thou wilt not leave my soul in its state of separation from the body, nor suffer my body to be corrupted. See note on Psa 16:10. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life — To which thou wilt assuredly conduct me; and after all my sufferings here, thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance — With manifestations of thy love and favour, in those upper and more glorious regions to which thou wilt raise me.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 2:25. Εἰς αὐτὸν, in reference to Him) viz. to Christ.—προωρώμην—εἰς ᾅδου—ἐγνώρισάς μοι, κ.τ.λ.) Psa 16:8-11, where the LXX. have, προωρώμην—εἰς ᾅδην—ἐγνώρισάς μοι, κ.τ.λ.—προωρώμην, I foresaw, or I saw the Lord before me) This very sentiment is expressed a little before in the same psalm, Act 2:2, thus, My goodness in comparison of, or beside Thee, [implying a continual seeing of the Lord as present before him] is nothing (has no existence).—ἐκ δεξιῶν μου ἐστὶν, He is on my right hand) to protect me.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_2:25. Εἰς αὐτόν] so that the words, as respects their fulfilment, apply to Him. See Bernhardy, p. 220.

The passage is from Psa_16:8 ff., exactly after the LXX. David, if the Psalm, which yet certainly is later, belonged to him, or the other suffering theocrat who here speaks, is, in what he affirms of himself, a prophetic type of the Messiah; what he says of the certainty that he should not succumb to the danger of death, which threatened him, has received its antitypical fulfilment in Christ by His resurrection from the dead. This historical Messianic fulfillment of the Psalm justified the apostle in its Messianic interpretation, in which he has on his side not rabbinical predecessors (see Schoettgen), but the Apostle Paul (Act_13:35 f.). The προωρώμην κ.τ.λ., as the LXX. translates שִׁוּיחִי, is, according to this ideal Messianic understanding of the Psalm, Christs joyful expression of His continued fellowship with God on earth, since in fact (ὅτι) God is by His side protecting and preserving Him; I foresaw the Lord before my face always, i.e. looking before me with the minds glance (Xen. Hell. iv. 3. 16; otherwise, Act_21:9), I saw Jehovah always before my face.

ἐκ δεξιῶν μου ἐστίν] namely, as protector and helper, as παραστάτης (Xen. Cyr. iii. 3, 21). Concerning ἐκ δεξιῶν, from the right side out, i.e. on the right of it, see Winer, p. 344 [E. T. 459]. The figurative element of the expression is borrowed from courts of justice, where the advocates stood at the right of their clients, Psa_109:31.

ἵνα μὴ σαλευθῶ] without figure: that I may remain unmoved in the state of my salvation. On the figurative usefrequent also in the LXX., Apocr., and Greek authors (Dorville, ad Char. p. 307)of σαλεύειν, comp. 2Th_2:2.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 2:25 . Δαυεὶδ γὰρ λέγει : the words which follow are quoted by St. Peter from Psa 16 ; and it has been said that the Apostle’s argument would be the same if the Psalm were the work of some other author than David. But if the following Psalm and the Psalm in question may with considerable reason be attributed to the same author, and if the former Psalm, the seventeenth, may be referred to the period of David’s persecution by Saul, then David’s authorship of Psalm sixteen becomes increasingly probable (Kirkpatrick). In Delitzsch’s view whatever can mark a Psalm as Davidic we actually find combined here, e.g. , coincidences of many kinds which he regards as undoubtedly Davidic ( cf. Act 5:5 with Act 11:6 , Act 5:10 with Act 4:4 , Act 5:11 with Act 17:15 ), and he sees no reason for giving up the testimony afforded by the title. But it is plain that David’s experience did not exhaust the meaning of the Psalm, and St. Peter in the fulness of the gift of Pentecost interprets the words εἰς αὐτὸν , “with reference to Him,” i.e. , the Messiah ( cf. St. Paul’s interpretation of the same Psalm in Act 13:35 ). On the application of the Psalm as Messianic, cf. Edersheim, Jesus the Messiah , ii., p. 717. Προωρώμην : not “I foresaw,” but “I beheld the Lord always before my face,” LXX; Heb., “I have set the Lord always before me”. Κύριον = Jehovah. ἐκ δεξιῶν μου : as a defence and helper. Cf. παραστάτης , Xen., Cyr. , iii., 3, 21. The imagery may be taken from that of the trials in which advocates stood at the right hand of their clients (Psa 109:31 ), or there may be a reference to a champion who, in defending another, would stand on his right hand; cf. Psa 110:5 ; Psa 121:5 (Kirkpatrick, and Robertson Smith, Expositor , 1876, p. 351). ἵνα μὴ σαλευθῶ : although the verses which follow contain the chief Messianic references in St. Peter’s interpretation, yet in the fullest sense of the words the Christ could say προωρ . κ . τ . λ . (see Felten, in loco ). But because the Father was with Him, He could add διὰ τοῦτο εὐφράνθη ἡ καρδία μου : “the heart” in O.T. is not only the heart of the affections, but the centre of the man’s whole moral and intellectual nature (Oehler, Theol. des A.T. , p. 71). εὐφράνθη refers rather to a joyous state of mind, “was glad,” R.V., ἠγαλλιάσατο used of outward and active expression of joy is rendered “rejoiced,” R.V. (in A.V. the meaning of the two verbs is transposed). At the same time εὐφράνθη is sometimes used in LXX and N.T., as in modern Greek of festive enjoyment, Kennedy, Sources of N. T. Greek , p. 155. ἡ γλῶσσά μου : in Hebrew כְּבוֹדִי “my glory,” i.e. , my soul, my spirit ( cf. Gen 49:6 , Schöttgen). The Arabs use a similar expression for the eye, the hand, or any member of the body held in special honour ( cf. Lumby on Psa 108:1 ). ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἡ σάρξ : flesh does not here mean the dead corpse but the living body (Perowne, Kirkpatrick). κατασκηνώσει , “shall dwell in safety,” R.V., “confidently,” margin (O.T.); the expression is used frequently of dwelling safely in the Promised Land. In N.T. the R.V. translates “shall dwell,” “tabernacle” margin, shall dwell as in a tent, a temporary abode. In its literal meaning, therefore, there is no reference to the rest of the body in the grave, or to the hope of resurrection from the grave, but the words must be understood of this life (Perowne); cf. Deu 33:12 ; Deu 33:28 , Psa 4:8 ; Psa 25:13 , Jer 23:6 ; Jer 33:16 . For the hope of the Psalmist, expressed in the following words, is primarily for preservation from death: “Thou wilt not give up my soul to Sheol [ i.e. , to the underworld, so that one becomes its prey], neither wilt thou suffer thy beloved one [singular] to see the pit” (so Delitzsch and Perowne, as also R. Smith and Kirkpatrick).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 25. For David speaketh concerning him] The quotation here is made from Ps 16:8-11, which contains a most remarkable prophecy concerning Christ, every word of which applies to him, and to him exclusively. See the notes there.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

25. The resurrection, which was both declared and witnessed by certain and evident testimonies, and which might also have been gathered out of the continual doctrine of the prophets, was to be proved to the Jews as some new and strange thing. And no marvel. For we see that although Christ had oftentimes beat the same into his disciples’ heads, yet did they profit but a little. And yet did they retain certain principles of true doctrine, which might have made a way for them unto the knowledge of Christ, as we shall see by and by. Therefore, because the gift of the Spirit was a fruit of the resurrection of Christ, he proveth by the testimony of David that Christ must needs have risen again, that the Jews may thereby know that he was the author of the gift. For he taketh it as a thing which all men grant, that he was raised up from death, that he may live not for himself, but for his. Now we see Peter’s drift; that that ought to seem no strange thing which was foretold so long before; and that Jesus is also Christ, because David did prophecy of him, as of the tied of the Church.

First of all, we must see whether this place ought altogether to be understood of Christ, as Peter affirmeth; that done, if there be any thing in the words worth noting, we will in order discuss it. Peter denieth that that agreeth with David which is said in this place:

“Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption,” (Psalm 16:10,)

because David’s carcass was corrupt in the grave. It seemeth at the first blush to be but a light argument. For a man might easily object, that the word is not to be urged, forasmuch as David meant nothing else, save only to exempt himself from destruction. Therefore, howsoever corruption did touch him, yet doth that no whit hinder but that he may easily say that he was safe from the danger thereof, because he knew that the Lord would deliver him. Yea, it seemeth to be a repetition of the former sentence, according to the common custom of the Hebrew tongue. Which if it be so, the sense shall be plain, that God will not suffer him to be oppressed with death, or that death should consume him. And this interpretation is confirmed by that where we read hell, it is in Hebrew סל, (seol;) where we read corruption, there it is שחת, (shachat;) both these words do signify the grave. By this means David should say twice, that he shall be delivered from death by the grace of God. Finally, he saith the same thing in this place, which he saith, (Psalm 49:15,) “God shall redeem my soul from the hand of hell.” Like as, on the other side, when he speaketh of the reprobates, he is wont to take “going down into the grave” for destruction. I answer briefly, that there is some greater thing expressed in this place than the common redemption or deliverance of the godly. David, indeed, doth promise that God will be his eternal deliverer, as well in life as in death. Neither had he been much better for this, to have been once delivered from one danger, unless he had hoped that he should be safe even unto the end through God’s protection; but he speaketh of such safety as is not common. And surely the words do sound that he speaketh of some new and singular privilege. Admit I grant that it is a repetition, and that there is all one thing uttered in these two members, “Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell;” and, “Thou shalt not suffer me to see corruption;” yet do I deny that it is simply to be understood that God will deliver his Holy One from eternal destruction; for freedom from corruption is promised by name. Neither do I pass for this, that שחת (shachat) doth signify the grave, as סל, (seol,) which is put in the former member. For although I do not stand nor contend about the words, yet must we respect the etymology. Therefore, forasmuch as the grave is called שחת, (shachat) because it doth corrupt man’s body with rottenness, it is not to be doubted but that David meant to note that quality. Therefore, the place is not so much expressed by this word, as the condition of rotting. So that the sense is, that God will not suffer him of whom the Psalm speaketh “to rot or corrupt in the grave.” And forasmuch as David was not free from this necessity, it followeth that the prophecy was neither truly nor perfectly fulfilled in him.

And that the Psalm ought altogether to be expounded of Christ, the thing itself doth prove. For seeing that David was one of the sons of Adam, he could not escape that universal condition and estate of mankind,

“Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return,” (Genesis 3:19;)

the grave standeth open (I say) for all the children of Adam, that it may swallow them up, and consume them; so that no man can exempt himself from corruption. So that, beholding ourselves apart from Christ, we see the grave prepared for us, which threateneth to us corruption. Wherefore, if David be separated from Christ, that shall not belong to him which is here said, that he shall be preserved from the grave. Therefore, when he boasteth that he shall be free from the grave, as touching corruption, without all doubt he placeth himself in the body of Christ, wherein death was overcome, and the kingdom thereof abolished. But and if David do promise himself exempting from the grave in another respect, save only so far forth as he is a member of Christ, hereby it appeareth that this freedom must begin at Christ as at the head. What man soever shall be of sound judgment shall easily know that this is a good argument. God did put all mankind under corruption; therefore, David, inasmuch as he was of the number of men, could not be free from the same. Neither is it to be doubted, but that the Jews, before whom this sermon was made, forasmuch as without question that maxim was of force amongst them, that they were to hope for the restoring of things at the hands of Christ alone, did the more readily stay themselves upon the words of Peter; because they saw that that could no otherwise be which the words do import, unless they should apply it to the Messias. For they were not come to that point of impudence, at least those of whom mention is made here, that they durst cavil in matters which were evident; for God had then offered unto his disciples those which were godly hearers, and apt to be taught. They sought the Messias in the Old Testament. They knew that David was a figure of him. There was amongst them some religion and reverence of the Scriptures then; but now the impudency of all the whole nation almost is desperate. Howsoever they be urged, they wrench themselves out one way or other. Where there is no way to escape, yet they break through; although they be overcome, yet will they not yield; neither is it to be doubted but that this their shameless forwardness is a punishment for their ungodliness. But let us return unto Peter’s sermon.

Seeing that David doth not only affirm that God also shall be his deliverer, but doth express a singular way and means; namely, that he shall not be subject to the corruption of the grave, Peter doth for good causes gather, that that doth not properly appertain unto him, for that his body was corrupt in the grave. And now, because this had been somewhat hard to be spoken among the Jews, he mollifieth the hardness with a circumlocution. For he doth not flatly deny in one word that that was fulfilled indeed in David, but doth only by the way signify so much unto them, because he lieth consumed in the grave after the common custom of other men. And David did so prophesy of Christ, that he did both apply this consolation unto himself privately, and’ also extend the same unto the whole body of the Church. For that which is sound and perfect in the head is spread abroad, being afterward poured out into all the members. Neither is it to be denied but that David spoke of himself in this place; yet only so far forth as he beheld himself in Christ, as in the mirror of life. First, he hath respect unto Christ; after that he turneth his eyes toward himself, and others the faithful. So that we have a general doctrine prescribed unto us in this plate, concerning the nature of faith, the spiritual joy of conscience: and the hope of eternal deliverance.

I saw We must hold this principle. If we will have God present with us, we must set him before our eyes; and that before he do appear; for the prospect of faith pierceth far further than unto the present experience. Therefore faith hath this property, to set God always before it as a guide in all dangers and confused matters. For there is nothing that doth so much hold us up, as when we know that God is present with us; as the opinion of his absence doth often cast us down, and at length quite discourage us. David addeth, That he took not heed in vain unto the direction of God. “He is (saith he) at my right hand;” whereby he doth signify that we need not to fear lest we be deceived, when as we set him before us at present; for we shall always feel his help most ready. Faith, in hoping for the help of God, ought to prevent and overgo all experience, and whatsoever is perceived by the sense; but so soon as it shall give this glory to God, that it doth behold him in his Word, although he be absent, and so, consequently, invisible, it shall be overcome with the effect of the thing. For the measure of faith is not able to comprehend the infinite greatness of the power and goodness of God. He draweth a similitude from those which, when they will underprop the weak, or strengthen the fearful, do join themselves unto their side. Not to be moved, is not to be thrown down from their degree, but to remain firm in their estate; like as also Psalm 46:5, God is in the midst of it, therefore shall it not be moved. For although it come to pass sometimes that the godly be sore shaken, yet because they come to themselves again, they are said to continue firm. Therefore, there is no cause why they should be afraid of falling, who are upholden by the help of God. Like as, on the other side, those which place their strength anywhere else save only in God, they shall be like to fall at every blast of wind, but at any mean wind of temptation they shall fall to the ground.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(25) For David speaketh concerning him.—More accurately, in reference to Him—i.e., in words which extended to Him. Reading Psalms 16 without this interpretation, it seems as if it spoke only of the confidence of the writer that he would be himself delivered from the grave and death. Some interpreters confine that confidence to a temporal deliverance; some extend it to the thought of immortality, or even of a resurrection. But Peter had been taught, both by his Lord and by the Spirit, that all such hopes extend beyond themselves—that the ideal of victory after suffering, no less than that of the righteous sufferer, was realised in Christ. The fact of the Resurrection had given a new meaning to prophecies which would not, of themselves, have suggested it, but which were incomplete without it.

He is on my right hand.—The Psalmist thought of the Eternal as the warrior thinks of him who, in the conflict of battle, extends his shield over the comrade who is on the left hand, and so guards him from attack. When the Son of Man is said to sit on the right hand of God (Psa_110:1; Mat_26:64) the imagery is different, and brings before us the picture of a king seated on his throne with his heir sitting in the place of honour by his side.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25. For David speaketh concerning him] The passage which St Peter quotes is from Psa_16:8-11, and he argues that it could not be of himself that the Psalmist there spake, for they had evidence that the words could not be truly said of him; but that having regard to God’s promise he spake of Him who was to be born from his line, as identified with himself. St Peter’s quotation is from the LXX.

I foresaw] The Hebrew has, I set. Foresaw is here used as = saw.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For David speaketh concerning him,.... The Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, in Psa 16:8. The whole psalm belongs to the Messiah, and everything concerning the person in it agrees with him; such as his trust in God, Psa 16:1 as he was man and Mediator; his very great regard to the saints, and delight in them, Psa 16:2 his disregard to others who were hastening after another God, or another Saviour, whose sacrifices, as an high priest, he would not offer up, nor make intercession for them, Psa 16:4 his exceeding great satisfaction in having the God of Israel for his portion, and in having his lot cast among his peculiar people, who were a delightful inheritance to him, Psa 16:5 his thankfulness for advice and direction in the time of his sorrows and sufferings; and his dependence on the almighty power of God to support and protect him, Psa 16:7 and the joy and comfort he was filled with in the view of his resurrection from the dead, and his enjoyment of the heavenly glory, Psa 16:9,

I foresaw the Lord always before my face; Christ always had Jehovah in view throughout the whole of his life; and in his last moments he had respect unto the glory of his perfections, as the ultimate end of his obedience and sufferings; and to his purposes, council, and covenant, which were to be accomplished by him; and to his will and command in preaching the Gospel, working miracles, going about to do good, in obeying the precept, and bearing the penalty of the law; as well as to his promises, and his power to assist, support, and preserve him, as man and Mediator:

for he is on my right hand; which expresses his nearness to him, his presence with him, his readiness to assist him, and his protection of him; as if he was his second that stood by him, to take his part, and, if need be, to take up his cause, and defend him from his enemies; see Psa 109:31.

that I should not be moved; from his station, place, and duty; from the cause he was engaged in, so as to relinquish it; or with the fear of men, or fury of devils, or wrath of God, whilst he was doing and suffering, according to the will of God.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

25 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:

Ver. 25. Be moved] Tossed as a ship by tempest.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For Daniel speaketh ... - This doctrine that the Messiah must rise from the dead Peter proceeds to prove by a quotation from the Old Testament. This passage is taken from Psa 16:8-11. It is made from the Greek version of the Septuagint, with only one slight and unimportant change. Nor is there any material change, as will be seen, from the Hebrew. In what sense this Psalm can be applied to Christ will be seen after we have examined the expressions which Peter alleges.

I foresaw the Lord - This is an unhappy translation. To foresee the Lord always before us conveys no idea, though it may be a literal translation of the passage. The word means “to foresee,” and then “to see before us,” that is, “as present with us, to regard as being near.” It thus implies “to put confidence in one; to rely on him, or expect assistance from him.” This is its meaning here. The Hebrew is, “I expected, or waited for.” It thus expresses the petition of one who is helpless and dependent, who waits for help from God. It is often thus used in the Old Testament.

Always before my face - As being always present to help me, and to deliver me out of all my troubles.

He is on my right hand - To be at hand is to be near to afford help. The right hand is mentioned because that was the place of dignity and honor. David did not design simply to say that he was near to help him, but that he had the place of honor, the highest place in his affections, Psa 109:31. In our dependence on God we should exalt him. We should not merely regard him as our help, but should at the same time give him the highest place in our affections.

That I should not be moved - That is, that no great evil or calamity should happen to me; that I may stand firm. The phrase denotes “to sink into calamities, or to fall into the power of enemies,” Psa 62:2, Psa 62:6; Psa 46:6. This expresses the confidence of one who is in danger of great calamities, and who puts his trust in the help of God alone.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

David speaketh concerning him, Psa 16:8.

I foresaw the Lord always before my face: in the psalm it is, I have set the Lord: the apostle following the reading of the Seventy, then in use and known; and to the same sense; for by faith we both see God, and place our confidence in him; David, and especially our Saviour, doing and enduring all things as in the sight of God, whom he knew to be both careful of him, and ready to help him. Thus, in all troubles, there is no such approved comfort, as the seeing or acknowledging the will of God concerning them, his power to preserve us under them, and his promises to deliver us from them. Christ, and all that are Christ’s, do conflict under the eye and in the sight of God, as soldiers whilst their general looks on.

On my right hand; the place of the advocate for one that is accused or endangered.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

25. Concerning him—Namely, Christ. The quotation is from Psalm xvi, which psalm the best Christian interpreters apply to Christ—truly, no doubt, if it be true that David, even as a representative man, speaks in the first person of the Messiah, the Holy One. (Act_2:27.) This is an epithet that no mere man is entitled to apply to himself; and if it could be truly applied to any being, that being would be entitled never to see corruption. If David were truly inspired, he could mean such a title only for some One higher than himself.

I foresaw—The prefix fore merely implies what is expressed in the following word, before.

Right hand—As my right-hand man, that is, my aid or seconder.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Saith for speaketh, A.V.; he held for foresaw, A.V. The sixteenth psalm is ascribed to David in the title prefixed to it in the Hebrew and the LXX Without pronouncing the titles to be infallible, we must confess that they carry great weight with them in the absence of any strong internal evidence against them. Meyer speaks of the psalm as "certainly later than David," and Ewald and others ascribe it to the time of the Captivity; but Hitzig thinks the internal evidence is in favor of its belonging to the time before David ascended the throne ("Speaker"s Commentary"). We may safely rest on the authority of St. Peter hero and St. Paul, (Act_13:35, Act_13:36) and be satisfied that it is really David"s. The manner in which it is quoted by the two apostles is also very strong evidence that by the Jews of that day it was generally admitted to be a Messianic psalm. The following quotation is verbatim from the LXX.

Vers. 25-28. The parable of the Resurrection in David"s psalm.

The apostle quotes one of the few utterances in the Old Testament which yield with any distinctness the hope of a life after the grave. But, speaking generally, the psalms, as the choicest expressions of the spiritual life of Israel, are "dark sayings" and "parables" of higher relations than those to which they immediately refer. In this psalm we find

I THE IMMEDIATE SENSE OF THE PRESENCE OF THE LIVING GOD. And this is a presence which, once enjoyed, carries with it the promise of its enjoyment forever. God can never be less to me than he is at the moment of my highest spiritual joy in the possession of him. This sense of his presence gives perfect security.

II THE EFFECT IS GLADNESS AND TRIUMPHANT HOPE. The soul will not be left in the gloom of Hades, to live on a life but the cold and shadowy reflection of the Bright life on earth. This cannot be believed and God"s goodness be believed. This cannot be believed and the filial feeling retained. At last all arguments for the immortality of the soul fall back upon this deepest basis, the ineradicable conviction of the goodness of God.

III THE WHOLE IS AN ARGUMENT FROM THE PAST TO THE FUTURE. "Thou madest knownthe ways of life; thou shalt make me full of gladness." And the argument may be applied in a wider sense than that present to the mind of the psalmist. For he was a prophet; and all prophecy is a germ which unfolds into endless meanings which history brings to light. The greatest and most signal fulfillment of the prophecy was in the resurrection of Christ.

IV THE FACTS, TOGETHER WITH THE PROPHECY, COMBINE IN ONE ARGUMENT FOR THE RESURRECTION. The facts were, that the risen Jesus had been seen by many. That now, after an interval from his departure, there had been a remarkable effusion of spiritual power. With these must be connected the fact that he had spoken of the coming of the Holy Ghost, the "promise of the Father." Putting the whole of the facts together, the conclusion was: Jesus, the despised and crucified, had been exalted to sovereign dignity, and in reference to Israel especially to the Messiahship; to be anointed Prophet, Priest, and King over his people for ever. The coincidence of extreme opposites is to be observed throughout the scheme of the gospel. It is illustrated, above all, in the humility and glorification, the weakness and power, the human contempt, and the Divine honor associated with the person of Jesus. J.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psalm xvi, 8.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The proof from David:

v. 25. For David speaketh concerning Him, I foresaw the Lord always before My face, for He is on My right hand, that I should not be moved;

v. 26. therefore did My heart rejoice, and My tongue was glad; moreover, also My flesh shall rest in hope;

v. 27. because Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption.

v. 28. Thou hast made known to Me the ways of life; Thou shalt make Me full of joy with Thy countenance.

Peter had stated to the Jews that Jesus had been delivered according to the foreknowledge of God and that God had raised Him up from the dead. Since these two statements required proof, the apostle proceeds to give it from Scriptures. He quotes Psa 16:8-11. There David says certain facts of the Lord, and the Messiah speaks through him. The Messiah declares that He beholds the Lord, Jehovah, before His face always; He is in the bosom of the Father from everlasting to everlasting. God, His heavenly Father, is at His right hand, as His Defense and Helper, so that He could not become permanently dejected. For that reason the Messiah’s heart is full of gladness and His tongue is full of exultation, His soul is full of joyful confidence. For His flesh, His living, animate body, may dwell in cheerful hope; the Messiah’s entire life could be spent in a confident and calm contemplation of the end which was awaiting Him. For the Lord, His heavenly Father, would not give up, not desert, His soul in the kingdom of death, would not permit Him to become the permanent prey of death, neither would He give His Holy One to see corruption. He knows and is convinced that His soul will not be given up and abandoned in the abode of the dead and destruction, that His body will not rot in the grave according to the common experience of mankind. In distinction from this the Lord has made known to the Messiah the ways of life; He has filled Him with gladness as being in His presence without interruption. For the Messiah no death would, even for a moment, sever the union between Him and His God and Lord. Note: The words of the Psalm are a beautiful and clear exposition of the Messiah concerning His death and the glorification which would be His through His death.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

St. Peter here proceeds in this memorable sermon, which he preached at the feast of Pentecost, to convince the Jews, that Jesus, whom they had crucified, was undoubtedly the promised Messias, because he was raised from the grave according to the prophetical prediction, Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption Psa 16:10.

And accordingly St. Peter doth strongly prove that these words, in their literal sense, could not be spoken of David, because he was left in the grave, and saw corruption; but must be applied unto Christ, who though he was laid, yet was not lost in the grave, but saw no corruption, being raised by God the third day.

Hence note, That though death bound the hands and feet of Jesus Christ, and laid him in his grave, yet, Samson-like, he snapt and broke those bands asunder, it being impossible that he should be holden of them, or confined by them. It was impossible for Christ to continue death’s prisoner in the grave longer than three days:

1. Because he was Lord of life and death, he was the resurrection and the life; life to quicken himself, and the resurrection to raise us; he was the resurrection effectively, the life essentially and formally.

Now it was impossible for death to hold him that was life itself under its power, any longer than he who is life pleased; and for this reason he is said to swallow up death in victory, 1Co 15:54.

2. Because of his undertaking for us; for if Christ had been held by corporal death, we must have continued for ever under the power of spiritual death; therefore the Holy one was not suffered to see corruption, the least corruption, according to the prophetical prediction, Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell Psa 16:10; that is, my dead body in the grave, (for David was left in that hell, from which Christ was raised, but the hell which David was in was not beyond the grave;) nor suffer thine Holy One to see corruption; that is, I shall neither see nor feel, nor lie under the power of corruption, but shall suddenly rise again, and then my Father will show me the path of life, and make me full of joy with his countenance; that is, after my resurrection, I shall lie for ever in glory in the presence of my Father, where I shall have fulness of joy, and rivers of pleasure for evermore.

The last part of St. Peter’s sermon treats of Christ’s ascension. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, &c. Act 2:33 intimating, That when the Lord Jesus Christ had finished his work upon earth, he was placed in the seat of the highest honour and authority, at the right hand of God in heaven.

To convince the Jews of the certainty hereof, St. Peter applies that promise, unto Christ, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool Psa 110:1; showing that these words are not applicable unto David; for David is not ascended into heaven in his own person, but his body remained in the sepulchre then amongst them; but Christ was ascended, and at the right hand of God exalted, and, pursuant to his promise, had now sent down the Holy Ghost in fiery cloven tongues, and divers languages, upon them.

Where note, The great and wonderful change in the state and condition of Christ, since his ascension into heaven: a little while since they called him the carpenter’s son, this fellow, this deceiver; now he has obtained a more excellent name than angels. Then he had not a place to lay his head on; now he is exalted to be heir of all things. Here he sweats, there he sits; here he groaned, there he triumphs; never to groan, weep, or bleed more. His human nature is advanced to the highest honours, even to the object of adoration both to angels and men. This was the doctrinal part of St. Peter’s sermon: it treated of the person, life, miracles, death, resurrection, and ascension, of the Lord Jesus, in a very close and convincing manner. His warm application of the whole now follows, Act 2:36.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25. “I foresaw the Lord always before me, because he is my right hand that I may not be shaken.” These words are applied to Christ; like much of David’s testimony this is only applicable to David’s greatest Son. We must bear in mind that the humanity of Christ is our only exemplar. The great importance of sanctification consists in the fact that it saves us from human leadership, which is always uncertain, fraught with peril, conducive to the damnation of millions. Truly sanctified people have no Leader but Jesus and no Guide but the Word, Spirit and Providence. The carnal clergy in all ages have fought sanctification with uncompromising virulence, from the simple fact that it takes the people out of their hands and turns them over to God, thus interrupting their cherished ecclesiastical policy of human leadership. In the fact that the man Jesus is our great and only Exemplar, we are assured in this verse that it is our privilege to enjoy spiritual apprehension of His constant presence. As the advocate in criminal court stood on the right hand of the accused while he defended and delivered him from the hands of his enemies, so it is our privilege to enjoy a constant spiritual apprehension of the inspiring and consolatory presence of the great Deliverer.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25-28. There are two points in this announcement which required proof, and to the presentation of this Peter immediately proceeds. Having stated that Jesus was delivered according to the determined purpose of God, he now quotes that purpose as expressed by David in the 16th Psalm . (25) " For David says concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face; for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. (26) Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover, my flesh shall rest in hope; (27) because thou wilt not leave my soul in hades, neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. (28) Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou wilt make me full of joy with thy countenance. " Only so much of this quotation as refers to the resurrection suits the special purpose of the speaker, the preceding portion serving only to connectedly introduce it.

The words, "Thou shalt make known to me the ways of life," constitute the affirmative assertion of a restoration to life, which had been negatively expressed, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hades, neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption" The words "Thou wilt make me full of joy with thy countenance," no doubt refer to that joy set before Jesus, for which "he endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

It is commonly agreed among interpreters, that in the sentence, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hades, neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption," there is no distinction intended between the condition of the soul and that of the body; but that the whole is merely equivalent to the statement, Thou wilt not leave me among the dead. I am constrained, however, to adopt the opinion advanced, but not defended, by Olshausen, that the apostle does intend to fix our attention upon the body and soul of Jesus separately. The most obvious reason for this opinion is the fact that his body and soul are spoken of separately, and with separate reference to their respective places of abode during the period of death. The soul can not see corruption, neither can the body go into hades; but when men die, ordinarily, their bodies see corruption, and their souls enter, not the grave, but hades. The words in question declare, in reference to both the body and soul of Jesus, that which must have occurred in his resurrection, that the one was not left in hades, neither did the other see corruption. The apostle, in commenting upon them, makes the distinction still more marked, by saying, ( verse 31 , below), "He spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul should not be left in hades, nor his flesh see corruption." Why do both the prophet and the apostle so carefully make the distinction, unless they wish to fix attention upon it?

The term hades designates the place of disembodied spirits. It is, as its etymology indicates, ( a, privative; idein, to see ) the unseen. The Greeks were good at giving names to things. When they watched a friend sinking into the arms of death, they could see, by the motion of the frame and the light of the eye, the continued presence of the soul, until at last, the muscles were all motionless, and the eye fixed and leaden. They could still see the body, and after it had been deposited in the grave they could revisit it and see it again. But where is the soul? You see it no longer. There are no signs of its presence. It is gone; and its invisible abode they call hades, the unseen. That the soul of Jesus entered hades is undeniable. That it returned again to the body at the resurrection is asserted by Peter; and it is this return which was predicted by the prophet, and which caused the exultation both of himself and the apostle.

The resurrection of Jesus is not appreciated by the religious world now, as it was by the apostles. As respects the return of his soul from hades, Protestant writers have fled so far from the justly-abhorred purgatory of the Catholic, and the gloomy soul-sleeping of the Materialist, that they have passed beyond the Scripture doctrine, and either ignore altogether the existence of an intermediate state, or deny that the souls of the righteous are short of ultimate happiness during this period. On the other hand, they have so great a tendency to absolute spiritualism in their conceptions of the future state, that they fail to appreciate the necessity for the resurrection of the body of Jesus, or to exult, as the apostles did, in anticipation of the resurrection of their own bodies. As long as men entertain the idea that their spirits enter into final bliss and glory immediately after death, they can never be made to regard the resurrection of the body as a matter of importance. This idea has been produced a general skepticism among the masses, in reference to a resurrection of the body; for men are very apt to doubt the certainty of future events for which they see no necessity. As respects the resurrection of the body of Jesus, the most popular conception of its necessity is no doubt this, that it was merely to comply with the predictions of the prophets and of Jesus himself. It would be far more rational to suppose that it was made a subject of prophesy, because there was some grand necessity that it should occur.

It would occupy too much space, in a work of this kind, to fully develop this subject, we must, therefore, content ourselves with only a few observations, the complete vindication of the correctness of which we must forego.

When the eternal Word became flesh, he assumed all the limitations and dependencies which belong to men; "for it behooved him to be made in all things like his brethren." One of these limitations was the inability to work without a body; hence, to him, as well as to his brethren, there was a night coming in which he could not work. He says, "I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; the night is coming when no man can work." This night can not be the period after the resurrection, for then he did work. It must, then, be the period of death, while his soul was absent from his body. During this period, he himself asserts, he could do no work, and certainly neither history nor prophesy refer to any work which he then did. It was the Jewish Sabbath among the living, and he observed it with absolute stillness in hades. If he had appeared to his disciples, as angels appear to men, convincing them that he was still alive, and could then have gone to heaven in his mere spiritual nature, who could say there was any necessity for a resurrection of that body in which all his sufferings were endured, and through which all temptations had reached him? But he could not be. Hades was to him a night of inactivity, as it is to all his disciples, though to neither is it a state of unconsciousness. If it had continued forever, then the further work of redemption, which could only be effected by a mediator in heaven, a Christ on the throne, sending down the Holy Spirit, directing the labors of men and angels, and finally raising the dead to judgment, would have remained undone forever. It was this thought which caused the exultation of the apostles, in view of the recovery of his soul from the inactivity of hades, and its reunion with the uncorrupted and now incorruptible body. "He was delivered for our offenses," but "was raised again for our justification." His death was the atonement, enabling God to be just in justifying those who believe on Jesus; but his resurrection enabled him to enter heaven with his own blood, securing eternal redemption for us. The resurrection was, therefore, an imperious necessity in his case, and it will be in ours; for not till he comes again will we enter the mansions he is preparing for us, and receive the crown of righteousness which he will give to all them, who love his appearing.

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

25–28. David speaketh. Psa. 16:8–11.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

General Information:

Here Peter quotes a passage that David wrote in a Psalm which relates to Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection.

General Information:

Since Peter says that David said these words about Jesus, the words "I" and "my" refer to Jesus and the words "Lord" and "he" refer to God.

before my face

"in front of me." AT: "in my presence" or "with me" (See: Synecdoche and Idiom)

beside my right hand

To be at someone's "right hand" often means to be in a position to help and sustain. AT: "right beside me" or "with me to help me" (See: Synecdoche and Idiom)

I should not be moved

Here the word "moved" means to be troubled. This can be stated in active form. AT: "people will not be able to cause me trouble" or "nothing will trouble me" (See: Active or Passive)

my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced

People consider the "heart" the center of emotions and the "tongue" voices those emotions. AT: "I was glad and rejoiced" (See: Synecdoche)

my flesh will live in certain hope

Possible meanings of the word "flesh" are 1) he is a mortal who will die. AT: "Even though I am only mortal, I will have confidence in God" or 2) it is synecdoche for his entire person. AT: "I will live with confidence in God" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

David

lord

hand

heart

tongue

joy

flesh

confidence

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

25. Δαυεὶδ κ.τ.λ. The passage which St Peter quotes is from Psa 16:8-11, and he argues that it could not be of himself that the Psalmist there spake, for they had evidence that the words could not be truly said of him. But having regard to God’s promise David spake of Him who was to be born from his line, as identified with himself. St Peter’s quotation is from the LXX.

εἰς αὐτόν, in reference to him. The preposition indicates the direction of the thoughts of him who spoke. Cf. Winer-Moulton, p. 495.

προορώμην. The πρὸ is used here as a strengthening of the following ἐνώπιόν μου, and in the same sense. The foresaw of A.V. is equal to no more than saw. The Hebrew text would be rendered, I set.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25.] εἰς αὐτόν, not ‘of Him,’ but in allusion to Him. The 16th Psalm was not by the Rabbis applied to the Messiah: but Peter here proves to them that, if it is to be true in its highest and proper meaning of any one, it must be of Him. We are met at every turn by the shallow objections of the Rationalists, who seem incapable of comprehending the principle on which the sayings of David respecting himself are referred to Christ. To say, with De Wette, that Peter’s proof lies not in any historical but only in an ideal meaning of the Psalm, is entirely beside the subject. To interpret the sayings of David (or indeed those of any one else) ‘historically,’ i.e. solely as referring to the occasion which gave rise to them, and having no wider reference, would be to establish a canon of interpretation wholly counter to the common sense of mankind. Every one, placed in any given position, when speaking of himself as in that position, speaks what will refer to others similarly situated, and most pointedly to any one who shall in any especial and pre-eminent way stand in that position. Applying even this common rule to David’s sayings, the applicability of them to Christ will be legitimized:—but how much more, when we take into account the whole circumstances of David’s theocratic position, as the prophetic representative and type of Christ! Whether the Messiah was present or not to the mind of the Psalmist, is of very little import: in some cases He plainly was: in others, as here, David’s words, spoken of himself and his circumstances, could only be in their highest and literal sense true of the great Son of David who was to come. David often spoke concerning himself; but the Spirit who spoke in David, εἰς τὸν χριστόν. The citation is verbatim from the LXX (except in the order of μου ἡ καρ.: see var. readd.): the Vatican, Sinaitic, and Alexandrine copies agree throughout, except in ᾅδην Bא (τον αδ. א1) and ᾅδου (A), and εὐφροσύνης (Bא) and -νην (A), between which our mss. also vary.

ἵνα μὴ σαλευθῶ] Heb. ‘I shall not be moved.’

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I foresaw [προωρωμην] . Not to see beforehand, but to see before one's self, as in Psa 16:8.

I should not be moved [μη σαλευθω] . Or be shaken. Generally so rendered in the New Testament. See Mt 11:7; Mt 24:29; Heb 12:26, etc.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.