What Does Acts 2:25 Mean?
For David says concerning him, I saw the LORD always before my face, for he is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken.
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
For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:THE KEY
The Lord held continually in view and present at the speaker’s side is the ground of a steadiness that can outlast shaking.
THE MEANING
Jesus keeps the Lord continually before his face, and the Lord is at his right hand. His steadiness rests in that nearness: the one beside him keeps him from tottering. The verse gives you a living picture of stability held by presence while the world moves.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that you must hold yourself upright alone gives way: the verse locates stability in the presence at the speaker’s right hand.
THE ROOT
σαλευθῶ
saleuthō
GROWS FROM
σαλεύω
saleuō
To shake, unsettle, or cause to totter.
“shaken” in this verse is saleuthō. English “moved” can sound like a change of stance; σαλεύω (saleuō), meaning “shake” or “cause to totter,” gives it the physical image of losing one’s footing. The verse locates steadiness in the Lord’s constant presence at the speaker’s side, even while the world moves.
ALSO GROWS
esaleusen: Shook or caused to totter.
ἐσάλευσεν
Hebrews 12:26 uses this same verb for the earth shaken by a voice; the shared root lets the speaker’s steadiness coexist with upheaval.
asaleuton: Unable to be shaken; immovable.
ἀσάλευτον
Hebrews 12:28 uses this related form for a kingdom that cannot be moved, showing the same word family describing what stands beyond shaking.
προορώμην
proōrōmēn
GROWS FROM
προοράω
prooraō
To see beforehand or keep in view.
“saw” in this verse is proōrōmēn. The Greek verb joins πρό (pro), meaning “before,” with ὁράω (horaō), meaning “see.” Beside “always before my face,” it gives “foresaw” the sense of the Lord continually held in view, rather than a moment of prediction.
ALSO GROWS
horaō: To see or behold.
ὁράω
This is the seeing at the heart of προοράω (prooraō); the verse describes the Lord as continually within the speaker’s sight.
proorōmen: A plural form of “see beforehand.”
προορώμεν
It shares the verb’s “see before” form and reinforces that the word carries an image of sight directed ahead.
THE PATTERN
A person’s footing holds when the LORD remains in view and at hand.
I set the LORD before me always; because he is at my right hand, I do not totter.Let him not give your foot to totter; let your watcher not nod.Therefore, receiving an unshakable governance, let us hold favor, through which we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe.THE THREAD
whose voice then shook the earth, but now he has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.”The Greek verb behind “moved” here shares its root with “shook” in Hebrews 12:26. The same word family makes the steadiness more vivid: it holds in the presence of upheaval.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us