What Does Acts 13:34 Mean?
And that he raised him up from the dead, no longer about to turn back to decay, he said it in this way, "I will give you the steady faithful loves of David."
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.THE KEY
David’s faithful love stands on a life that cannot return to decay.
THE MEANING
God’s gift to you is David’s faithful love made sure. The one raised from death does not return to decay, so this life reaches you as a promise death cannot undo.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the lie that every promise of life is temporary because death eventually reclaims everything.
THE ROOT
πιστά
pista
GROWS FROM
πείθω (peithō), root πειθ- (peith-)
Persuade, bring to trust; this word family carries the sense of trusting reliance and reliability.
“steady faithful loves” in this verse is pista. The “sure” things are firm enough to lean on. Isaiah’s Hebrew wording pairs David’s faithful love with נֶאֱמָנִים (ne’emanim, firm and reliable), making trustworthiness part of the promise.
ALSO GROWS
pistis: Trust, reliance.
πίστις
It shows that what is sure can be relied upon, not merely predicted.
pisteuō: Trust, entrust oneself.
πιστεύω
The same word family describes placing oneself in the care of what is dependable.
חַסְדֵי
chasdei
GROWS FROM
ח־ס־ד
ḥ-s-d
Faithful love; loyal, covenantal kindness.
“mercies” in this verse is chasdei. Isaiah’s Hebrew source names these as חַסְדֵי דָוִד (chasdei David, David’s faithful love). Acts renders the phrase with ὅσια (hosia, sacred things), while the Hebrew root brings out love that remains loyal and takes concrete form.
ALSO GROWS
chasadim: Acts of faithful love.
חֲסָדִים
The plural makes the promised love tangible: it appears in what is given and done.
chasid: A faithful, loyal person.
חָסִיד
This branch shows the root’s bond between faithful love and the one who embodies loyalty.
διαφθορά
diaphthora
GROWS FROM
φθείρω
phtheirō
Decay, destroy, corrupt.
The verse names more than a departure from death: there is no return to disintegration. The promise’s firmness stands against decay itself.
ALSO GROWS
phthora: Decay, destruction.
φθορά
It names the disintegration that the raised one does not return to.
diaphtheirō: Corrupt, destroy.
διαφθείρω
This verb makes clear that corruption is a process of breaking down, not simply a place one leaves.
THE PATTERN
What God raises into life is carried by faithful love that outlasts decay.
For you do not leave my living soul to Sheol; you do not give your faithful one to see the pit.Bend your ear and come to me. Hear and respond, and your living soul shall live. I will cut a covenant of the ages with you, the steady faithful loves of David.Knowing that the Anointed One, having been raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer masters him.THE THREAD
For you do not leave my living soul to Sheol; you do not give your faithful one to see the pit.The Greek wording of this psalm uses the same word for “corruption” as Acts 13:34. Its promise that the Holy One will not see decay opens the meaning here: the raised one does not return to disintegration.
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