2:31a
Foreseeing this: The Greek text is literally “having foreseen.” It indicates that David knew ahead of time what his words meant. Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
Seeing what was ahead (New International Version)
-or-
David saw what God was going to do in the future (Good News Translation)
-or-
with foreknowledge (New Jerusalem Bible)
2:31b
David spoke about the resurrection of the Christ: This refers to the Old Testament quote in 2:27a–b. This phrase indicates that David’s from the Psalms were really about Jesus and his resurrection. Peter told what the promise was again in 2:31c–d.
the resurrection of the Christ: The word resurrection refers here to the time when God would cause the Christ to live again. Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
Christ rising from the dead
-or-
that Christ would be raised to life (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
⌊God⌋ causing the Christ to live again
See how you translated the word resurrection in 1:22.
the Christ: This phrase is used here as a title. It is not just one of Jesus’ names. The Jews used this title to refer to the special person whom God had appointed and promised to send as king and savior. This title is the Greek translation of the Hebrew title “the Messiah,” and the two titles have the same meaning.
Here are some other ways to translate the Christ:
• Use a title or a descriptive phrase in your language that has the same meaning as Christ. For example:
Messiah
-or-
Promised Deliverer
-or-
the Rescuer-King whom God sent
• Transliterate Christ and include a phrase that explains the meaning. For example:
Christ, the appointed one
-or-
Cristo, the savior whom God promised to send
• Transliterate it and indicate in some way that it is a title. For example:
the Kirisita
If you do not indicate the meaning of the Christ in the text, you may want to include a footnote to explain the meaning of the Christ. Or you may want to explain the meaning in a glossary. Here is an example glossary entry:
The title “the Christ” refers to the King and Savior whom God had promised to send.
2:31c
that He was not abandoned to Hades: Here the word that introduces what David said about regarding the resurrection of the Christ. Peter used indirect speech and so used the pronoun He. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
namely, he was not abandoned to the grave
He was not abandoned: The clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:
God would not leave him (New Living Translation (2004))
He: This pronoun refers to Jesus, the Christ.
abandoned: Translate this verb as you did in 2:27a. Peter used the past tense here because the fulfillment of the prophecy, God raising Jesus, had already occurred.
Hades: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Hades means “the place of the dead.” Translate this word as you did in 2:27a.
2:31d
nor did His body see decay: This clause uses the same verb phrase as in 2:27b. Peter used the past tense here because the fulfillment of that prophecy already occurred. Translate the verb phrase see decay as you did in 2:27b.
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