Psalm 16:8–11
Thine Holy One
Doctrine shiftedQuoted by the apostles in Acts 2:25–28; 13:35, in the older Greek wording
Peter rested the resurrection on one word. The later text lets that word mean the grave.
Side by Side
The Older Text
Septuagint, translated before Messiah
Therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue exulted; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
The Later Text
Masoretic, as a Jewish Bible renders it (1917)
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth; my flesh also dwelleth in safety; For Thou wilt not abandon my soul to the nether-world; neither wilt Thou suffer Thy godly one to see the pit.
Quoted in Acts 2:26–27
Peter’s sermon at Shavuot
Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Your KJV reads: “corruption” in both Psalm 16 and Acts, the meaning the Greek chose, but the Hebrew “my glory” in the Psalm.
See what changed and why ↓What Your Bible Says
He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Messiah, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
Acts 2:31 KJV
At Shavuot, Peter stood up and read Psalm 16. Then he pointed out that David was dead and buried, and his tomb was still there (Acts 2:29). David’s body had rotted. So David was not speaking of himself. He was speaking of the One raised from the dead.
Paul made the same case years later: David “saw corruption: But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption” (Acts 13:36–37).
What the Jewish Bible Says
Neither wilt Thou suffer Thy godly one to see the pit.
Psalm 16:10, Jewish Publication Society, 1917
“The pit” is the grave. Every man goes down to it sooner or later. Read this way, the verse is a prayer to be spared an early death. Nothing in it promises a body that will not decay.
What Changed
Two things. First, the Hebrew word at the end of the verse can mean “the pit” or “corruption,” meaning rot. The Greek, translated before Messiah, chose corruption. Jewish Bibles now choose the pit.
Second, where the Hebrew says “my glory rejoiceth,” the Greek says “my tongue.” Peter said “my tongue was glad” (Acts 2:26). He was reading the Greek.
Which One Is Right?
The Greek Bible reads one Holy One who will not see corruption.
Peter and Paul both quoted it that way and built the resurrection on it, in front of Jewish hearers who knew the Psalms.
The Masoretic text has the same Hebrew word, read today in Jewish Bibles as “the pit.”
Purpose of the Change
The effect of reading “the pit” is to turn a promise of resurrection into a prayer for long life. Read that way, the verse no longer points to the empty tomb.
The Bottom Line
David’s body saw corruption. The Holy One’s did not, and the apostles’ Bible said so before He was born.
The One the grave could not hold now holds its keys: “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death” (Revelation 1:18).
Dig Deeper The evidence, for anyone who wants it
One Word, Two Meanings
The Hebrew word is shachat. In Psalm 30:9 it is “the pit.” In Job 17:14 it is plainly rot: “I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother.” In Psalm 49:9 your KJV reads “not see corruption,” the same word. Both meanings are real.
One Holy One or Many?
Some Hebrew copies write the word for “godly one” with an extra letter that makes it plural, “godly ones,” and a note in the margin says to read it as one. The Cambridge Bible commentary on the Psalms (1902) notes this. The oldest complete Hebrew copy, from 1008 AD, writes it as one. So the reading actually spoken has one Holy One, as the Greek and the apostles do.
My Tongue
Where the Hebrew says “my glory rejoiceth,” the Greek says “my tongue exulted.” Peter said “my tongue was glad” (Acts 2:26). It is a small detail, but it shows which Bible Peter was reading aloud.
Who Raised Him?
The Holy One in Psalm 16 does not raise himself. He sets Yahuah before his face and trusts Him not to leave him in the grave. Paul says it plainly: “he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption” (Acts 13:37). The One who is raised is not the One who raises Him.
An Honest Note
Shachat really can mean “pit,” so a Jewish reader can say this is a choice of meaning, not a change of letters. That is fair. The apostles settled the meaning another way: the tomb was empty. “Hell” in this verse is Sheol, the grave, not a place of torment. The Greek word Hades carried pagan baggage the Hebrew never had; see “Words Your Bible Borrowed.”