Acts 13:34

Acts 13:34. No more to return to corruption. That is to say, Christ will never again endure death death which is invariably followed by corruption. His sacred body, however, underwent no change or corruption while it lay in the grave; so that here ‘to return to corruption' is simply ‘to die.' The doctrine of the eternity of Christ's existence is often urged by Paul (see especially Romans 6:9). We can trace in this and in other sermons of the Gentile apostle, outlines of the great arguments and doctrines which he afterwards pressed home with so much power in his epistles.

I will give you the sure mercies of David. The literal translation of these words is more forcible: ‘I will give to you (perform to you) the holy and sure mercies of David.' This quotation slightly varies from the words, but fully expresses the sense of the original (Isaiah 55:3). One of these mercies was a promise to David that after he (the king) had fulfilled his allotted days and slept with his fathers, God would raise up a successor of his house, whose reign should be perpetual, the throne of whose kingdom God would establish for ever (see 2 Samuel 7:13; 2 Samuel 7:16). This ‘promise' Paul tells them belongs ‘to them,' that is, to them and all who accept the salvation he was offering them in his Master's name; and the promise was, that a king Messiah should appear, whose reign should be perpetual. Now Jesus, whom Paul preached, had been shown to be the Messiah by His resurrection: the promise, then, made it certain that He (Jesus) would live and reign for ever, without any more interruption by death or corruption.