Chizuk Emunah (Pt 2) Under the Microscope: Chapter 69

Acts 13:35-37, Paul says, "Wherefore, he says also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption; but he whom God raised again, saw no corruption."

The addition, that "David saw corruption," shows that Paul misunderstood the sense of the passage he quoted. The word schachet (rendered "corruption") means a pit, and is synonymous with grave; for David relied on the salvation of the soul of the righteous, and expressed his conviction, that the body alone goes down to the pit, and not the soul with it, into perdition.

Passages, in which the word schachet (pit) occurs, in Psalm 94, "Until a pit is dug for the iniquitous man." Proverbs 26:27, "He who diggeth a pit, shall fall into it." Psalm 7:15, "He who makes a hole and diggeth it, will fall into the pit he hath made." We cannot perceive, therefore, the authority Paul had to apply the words of that psalm otherwise than in a sense in which its author had evidently designed it. 

Troki is quoting from Psalm 16. Here is the relevant section.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
(Psalm 16:9-11)  

He argues that "corruption" should be translated as "the pit." If we translate it as "the pit" how is this supposed to undermine the point Paul is making in his sermon? David saw the pit. His body was buried and decayed. Paul could just as well have made the same point saying "David died and remains dead to this day. His body saw the pit. But Messiah has been raised from the dead. His body has not seen the pit."

Rabbis give sermons like this all the time, and anyone who objected saying "but he was buried, and if his body goes into a grave even for an instant, then he saw the pit" would be accused of being difficult, and argumentative, and failing to see the rabbi's greater point.

We can also see this word used in Psalm 49.

Why should I fear in times of trouble,
 when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
those who trust in their wealth
 and boast of the abundance of their riches?
Truly no man can ransom another,
 or give to God the price of his life,
 for the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
that he should live on forever
and never see the pit.
(Psalm 49:5-9)

The reference here is David's hope in God's power to bring the dead to life. It is not that God will prevent his people from ever dying, but that even though they die, they will be brought back into life for eternity, therefore never seeing the pit.

Psalm 16:10 in the Greek reads as follows. ὅτι οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψεις τὴν ψυχήν μου εἰς ᾅδην οὐδὲ δώσεις τὸν ὅσιόν σου ἰδεῖν διαφθοράν. That last world  διαφθορά, refers to the destruction or decay of the body after death.

Remember that Acts was written in Greek, and the audience would have checked the references for accuracy, not against the Masoretic edition of the text, but against the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, which at the time was the Septuagint.

Again, the Septuagint preceded Paul by at least 160 years. The introduction to the Greek Ben Sirach mentions a full book composed of the Torah, Prophets, and Writings having already been translated into Greek by 130 BCE. These Jewish translators thought that "corruption" was the right word in the Greek. Can you blame Paul for turning it into an object lesson?