Acts 2:29-32 29Men, Brothers, it is possible to speak with confidence to you about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30Therefore, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat the fruit of his loins on his throne, 31looking ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see decay.
Peter interprets the verses from Psalm 16 that he just quoted and applies them to Jesus. The first point made in verse 29 is that the prophecy about resurrection in the psalm could not apply to David since he clearly died, and his tomb could be found in Jerusalem. David’s tomb is mentioned several times in history and was likely still known in the first century (Nehemiah 3:16; Josephus Antiquities 7.393; 13.249; 16.179–83; Wars 1.61).
Peter’s argument is logical by ruling out the obvious and pointing out the implication. He calls David the patriarch, which is typically used for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Often noted as Israel’s greatest king, David served as a father figure and ideal king for the Jews. Another interesting description of David by Peter is prophet in verse 30. The words David wrote in the Psalms spoke about the Messiah who would one day come. Third, David had himself received a prophetic word from God through Nathan that one day, a son of his would sit on the throne (Psalm 132:11; 2 Samuel 7:12-13). The kingdom of this son would be eternal.
Peter connected these ideas together in verse 31 to show that a descendant of David had to rise from the dead and not seek decay. This was all spoken long ago by the very revered David. This verse may allude to Psalm 132:11-17, which states that God would put one of David’s sons on the throne, and this son would be called “anointed,” from which the Hebrew word “messiah” comes. This coming “Anointed One” would not be held down by death or his body experience decay.
The Christian faith is built on a firm foundation of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. This foundation has several strong cornerstones. Peter has shown the first one in these verses, which is Scripture. He will add others in the coming verses, including eyewitnesses and the filling of the Holy Spirit. Without belief in Jesus’ literal resurrection from the dead, the Christian faith crumbles into a set of moral teachings that are no different than other religions.
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