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Acts 2:27

in Acts 2

because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Because thou wilt not leave my soul unto Hades, Neither wilt thou give thy Holy One to see corruption.

KJV

Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

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This verse in Acts 2

Commentary

11 notes on this verse

A commentator

Gregory of Nyssa

REFUTATION OF EUNOMIUS'S 'CONFESSION OF FAITH' 2.13 · Written before 395.

Truly the prophet David also, according to the interpretation of the great Peter, said with foresight of him, "You will not leave my soul in hell, neither will you suffer your holy one to see corruption," while the apostle Peter thus expounds the saying, that "his soul was not left in hell, neither did his flesh see corruption."

This site's exposition

For David speaketh concerning him

on Acts 2:25-28

For David speaketh concerning him: Peter quotes Psalm 16 whole, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, my flesh shall rest in hope, thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. The psalm's I is David's voice, and the sermon's whole argument will turn on whose flesh the promise could actually keep from corruption. Hell here is hades, sheol, the place of the dead, not the place of punishment, and the bench states the philology plainly since much confusion has hung on the English word. The quotation ends on the path of life and fulness of joy, resurrection stated as gladness, and Peter now has his text on the table before his hearers see where it must land.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers3 voices

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on Acts 6 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

For the assertion, "Seeing that it was not possible that He should be holden of it," means this, that His rising was not common to the rest. Then, however, before their thoughts can enter at all into his meaning, he brings David upon them, an authority which sets aside all human reasoning. "For David saith (with reference) to Him." And observe how, once more, the testimony is lowly. For therefore he begins the citation further up, with the matters of lowlier import therefore was death not in the number of grievous things [because], says he, "I foresaw the Lord always before my face, that He is on my right hand that I should not be moved:" and, "that Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell."

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

City of God 17.4 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

But does He bring them down to hell and bring them up again? It is without controversy among believers that we best see both parts of this work fulfilled in Him, to wit our Head, with whom the apostle has said our life is hid in God. "For when He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all," in that way, certainly, He has killed Him. And forasmuch as He raised Him up again from the dead, He has made Him alive again. And since His voice is acknowledged in the prophecy, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell," He has brought Him down to hell and brought Him up again.

A commentator

Cassiodorus

Commentary (church-history corpus) · Written before 585.

proposed

nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption: For it happened on the third day that His flesh was given fresh life, it was demonstrated that it could not have suffered corruption.

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Bede

Retractions on Acts · Written before 735.

proposed

Because you will not abandon my soul in hell, nor will you let your holy one see decay. It is certain that the soul of the Lord was not abandoned in hell, which, having taken away those for whom He descended there, soon returned to …

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Acts · Written before 1107.

proposed

Although the words "You will not leave my soul in Hades" are accepted by some as words spoken in the person of David, without, however, having the ability to prove their thought, nevertheless they rightly and piously say that the body rose to be incorruptible …
4 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,....

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

Thou wilt not leave my soul - The word “soul,” with us, means “the thinking, the immortal part of man,” and is applied to it whether existing in connection with the body or separate from it.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

a man approved of God--rather, "authenticated," "proved," or "demonstrated to be from God." by miracles . . . which God did by him--This is not a low view of our Lord's miracles, as has been alleged, nor inconsistent with Joh 2:11, but is in strict accordance with His progress from humiliation to glory, and with His own words in Joh 5:19.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell - Εις Ἁιδου, in hades, that is, the state of separate spirits, or the state of the dead. Hades was a general term among the Greek writers, by which they expressed this state; and this Hades was Tartarus to the wicked, and Elysium to the good. See the explanation of the word in the note on Mat 11:23 (note). To see corruption - Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return, was a sentence pronounced on man after the fall: therefore this sentence could be executed on none but those who were fallen; but Jesus, being conceived without sin, neither partook of human corruption, nor was involved in the condemnation of fallen human nature; consequently, it was impossible for his body to see corruption; and it could not have undergone the temporary death, to which it was not naturally liable, had it not been for the purpose of making an atonement. It was therefore impossible that the human nature of our Lord could be subject to corruption: for though it was possible that the soul and it might be separated for a time, yet, as it had not sinned, it was not liable to dissolution; and its immortality was the necessary consequence of its being pure from transgression.

The words behind it

15 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Psalms 16:10For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.21 worksActs 2:31Foreseeing this, David spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did His body see decay.13 worksRevelation 1:18the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.9 works1 Corinthians 15:55“Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?”8 worksPsalms 89:48What man can live and never see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah7 worksRevelation 20:13The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds.5 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
1 Corinthians 15:42So will it be with the resurrection of the dead: What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable.5 worksMark 1:24“What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”5 worksJohn 11:39“Take away the stone,” Jesus said. “Lord, by now he stinks,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man. “It has already been four days.”4 works1 Corinthians 15:52in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.4 worksPsalms 86:13For great is Your loving devotion to me; You have delivered me from the depths of Sheol.4 worksLuke 4:34“Ha! What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”3 worksJob 19:25–27But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.3 worksRevelation 3:7To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.3 works1 John 2:20You, however, have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.3 worksMatthew 11:23And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.3 worksActs 3:14You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.3 worksPsalms 49:9that he should live on forever and not see decay.3 works

Where this verse connects

1 approved connection.

  • Spoken beforehand, fulfilled here

    Psalms 16:10

    'not see corruption'

    Source: public-domain commentaries in agreement

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Psalms 16:10

    For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.

    it leads to

    • Acts 2:27–31

      because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.

    • Acts 13:35–38

      So also, He says in another Psalm: ‘You will not let Your Holy One see decay.’

    • Psalms 49:15

      But God will redeem my life from Sheol, for He will surely take me to Himself. Selah

    • Revelation 1:18

      the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.

  • Through

    Revelation 1:18

    the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.

    it leads to

    • Romans 6:9

      For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has dominion over Him.

    • Hebrews 7:25

      Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.

    • Romans 14:8–9

      If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

    • Psalms 68:20

      Our God is a God of deliverance; the Lord GOD is our rescuer from death.

Where this verse is studied

About Acts

The Ascension, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Ascension, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Acts: the study guide →Read Acts 2 →
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, City of God 17.4; Bede, Retractions on Acts; Cassiodorus, Commentary (church-history corpus); Gregory of Nyssa, REFUTATION OF EUNOMIUS'S 'CONFESSION OF FAITH' 2.13; J. A. Alexander, The Acts of the Apostles Explained; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 6; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748) and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts.

Read on in Acts 2 →