Albert Barnes Commentary Acts 13:34

"And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he hath spoken on this wise, I will give you the holy and sure [blessings] of David." — Acts 13:34 (ASV)

And as concerning. In further proof of that. To show that He actually did it, he proceeds to quote another passage of Scripture.

No more to return to corruption. The word "corruption" is usually employed to denote putrefaction, or the decaying of a body in the grave—its returning to its native dust. But it is certain (Acts 13:35) that the body of Christ never in this sense saw corruption. The word is therefore used to denote death or the grave, the cause and place of corruption. The word is used this way in the Septuagint. It means here simply that He should not again die.

He said on this wise. He said thus, outwv.

I will give you. This quotation is made from Isaiah 55:3. It is quoted from the Septuagint, with a change of only one word, not affecting the sense. In Isaiah, the passage does not refer particularly to the resurrection of the Messiah, nor is it Paul’s design to affirm that it does. His object in this verse is not to prove that He would rise from the dead, but that, being risen, He would not die again. That the passage in Isaiah refers to the Messiah, there can be no doubt (Isaiah 55:1, 4). The passage quoted here is an address to the people, an assurance to them that the promise made to David would be performed—a solemn declaration that He would make an everlasting covenant with them through the Messiah, the promised descendant of David.

The sure mercies of David. The word mercies here refers to the promise made to David: the mercy or favour shown to him by promising him a successor who would not fail to sit on his throne (2 Samuel 7:16; Psalms 89:4, 6; Psalms 132:11, 12).

These mercies and these promises are called "sure," as being true or unfailing; they should certainly be accomplished (Compare 2 Corinthians 1:20). The word David here does not refer, as many have supposed, to the Messiah, but to the king of Israel. God made David a promise, a certain pledge; He bestowed on him this special mercy in promising that he would have a successor who would sit forever on his throne.

This promise was understood by the Jews and is often referred to in the New Testament as relating to the Messiah. Paul here says that this promise is now fulfilled. The only question is how it refers to the subject Paul was immediately discussing. That point was not mainly to prove His resurrection, but to show particularly that He would never die again, or that He would forever live and reign.

The argument is that, as God had promised that David would have a successor who would sit forever on his throne, and as this prediction now culminated in the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, it followed that—since that promise was sure and certain—He would never die again.

He must live if the sure promise was to be fulfilled. And though He had been put to death, yet under that general promise was the certainty that He would live again. The meaning is, it was impossible that the Messiah—the promised successor of David, the perpetual occupier of his throne—should remain under the power of death. Under this assurance, the church now rests its hopes. Zion’s King now lives, ever able to vindicate and save His people.

The Greek term is ta osia, which can also mean just things. The Septuagint (the Seventy) uses this word, both in the passage in Isaiah 55:3 and in many others, for the Hebrew word meaning mercies.