Discovery BoxActs 2:23-31 
Context2:23 this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed 1 by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. 2 2:24 But God raised him up, 3 having released 4 him from the pains 5 of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its power. 6 2:25 For David says about him,
‘I saw the Lord always in front of me, 7
for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken.
2:26 Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced;
my body 8 also will live in hope,
2:27 because you will not leave my soul in Hades, 9
nor permit your Holy One to experience 10 decay.
2:28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will make me full of joy with your presence.’ 11
2:29 “Brothers, 12 I can speak confidently 13 to you about our forefather 14 David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 2:30 So then, because 15 he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants 16 on his throne, 17 2:31 David by foreseeing this 18 spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, 19 that he was neither abandoned to Hades, 20 nor did his body 21 experience 22 decay. 23
1 tn Or “you killed.”
2 tn Grk “at the hands of lawless men.” At this point the term ἄνομος (anomo") refers to non-Jews who live outside the Jewish (Mosaic) law, rather than people who broke any or all laws including secular laws. Specifically it is a reference to the Roman soldiers who carried out Jesus’ crucifixion.
3 tn Grk “Whom God raised up.”
4 tn Or “having freed.”
5 sn The term translated pains is frequently used to describe pains associated with giving birth (see Rev 12:2). So there is irony here in the mixed metaphor.
6 tn Or “for him to be held by it” (in either case, “it” refers to death’s power).
7 tn Or “always before me.”
8 tn Grk “my flesh.”
9 tn Or “will not abandon my soul to Hades.” Often “Hades” is the equivalent of the Hebrew term Sheol, the place of the dead.
10 tn Grk “to see,” but the literal translation of the phrase “to see decay” could be misunderstood to mean simply “to look at decay,” while here “see decay” is really figurative for “experience decay.”
11 sn A quotation from Ps 16:8-11.
12 tn Since this represents a continuation of the address beginning in v.14 and continued in v. 22, “brothers” has been used here rather than a generic expression like “brothers and sisters.”
13 sn Peter’s certainty is based on well-known facts.
14 tn Or “about our noted ancestor,” “about the patriarch.”
15 tn The participles ὑπάρχων (Juparcwn) and εἰδώς (eidw") are translated as causal adverbial participles.
16 tn Grk “one from the fruit of his loins.” “Loins” is the traditional translation of ὀσφῦς (osfu"), referring to the male genital organs. A literal rendering like “one who came from his genital organs” would be regarded as too specific and perhaps even vulgar by many contemporary readers. Most modern translations thus render the phrase “one of his descendants.”
17 sn An allusion to Ps 132:11 and 2 Sam 7:12-13, the promise in the Davidic covenant.
18 tn Grk “David foreseeing spoke.” The participle προϊδών (proidwn) is taken as indicating means. It could also be translated as a participle of attendant circumstance: “David foresaw [this] and spoke.” The word “this” is supplied in either case as an understood direct object (direct objects in Greek were often omitted, but must be supplied for the modern English reader).
19 tn Or “the Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
sn The term χριστός (cristos) was originally an adjective (“anointed”), developing in LXX into a substantive (“an anointed one”), then developing still further into a technical generic term (“the anointed one”). In the intertestamental period it developed further into a technical term referring to the hoped-for anointed one, that is, a specific individual. In the NT the development starts there (technical-specific), is so used in the gospels, and then develops in Paul’s letters to mean virtually Jesus’ last name.
20 tn Or “abandoned in the world of the dead.” The translation “world of the dead” for Hades is suggested by L&N 1.19. The phrase is an allusion to Ps 16:10.
21 tn Grk “flesh.” See vv. 26b-27. The reference to “body” in this verse picks up the reference to “body” in v. 26. The Greek term σάρξ (sarx) in both verses literally means “flesh”; however, the translation “body” stresses the lack of decay of his physical body. The point of the verse is not merely the lack of decay of his flesh alone, but the resurrection of his entire person, as indicated by the previous parallel line “he was not abandoned to Hades.”
22 tn Grk “see,” but the literal translation of the phrase “see decay” could be misunderstood to mean simply “look at decay,” while here “see decay” is really figurative for “experience decay.”
