Bible Strands
Psalms 16:10
For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — A psalmist (traditionally David) addresses YHWH in a moment of settled confidence, the logical outflow of the security declared in verse 9. The tone is declarative, not supplicatory.
The words — חֲסִיד (chasid) is the noun form of the stem meaning "faithful, loyal" — not "holy" (qadosh) — yet the BSB and LXX render it "Your Holy One," a choice that shapes how the verse is read in the New Testament.
The thread — Peter (Acts 2:27) and Paul (Acts 13:35) both cite this verse to argue that Jesus' resurrection fulfills it, identifying the "faithful one" as Christ. Psalms 49:15 echoes the theme of God redeeming a life from Sheol.
Why it lands — The verse forces a reader to decide whether the "faithful one" is the psalmist himself or a figure beyond him, and whether the promise is individual or corporate. It offers no comfort that does not require a claim to be true.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Cross-references
- Acts 2:27 because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
- Acts 13:35 So also, He says in another Psalm: ‘You will not let Your Holy One see decay.’
- Psalms 49:15 But God will redeem my life from Sheol, for He will surely take me to Himself. Selah
- Revelation 1:18 the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.
- Isaiah 14:9 Sheol beneath is eager to meet you upon your arrival. It stirs the spirits of the dead to greet you—all the rulers of the earth. It makes all the kings of the nations rise from their thrones.
- Revelation 20:13 The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds.
- Luke 1:35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.
- Luke 16:23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.
- Deuteronomy 32:22 For a fire has been kindled by My anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol; it consumes the earth and its produce, and scorches the foundations of the mountains.
- Isaiah 5:14 Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat and opens wide its enormous jaws, and down go Zion’s nobles and masses, her revelers and carousers!