Acts 2:24 Meaning and Explanation
“Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →God raised Jesus up, loosing the pains of death, because it was not possible for death to hold him.
What Does Acts 2:24 Mean?
The sermon pivots from the deed of the crowd to the answer of God: whom God hath raised up. The grip of the grave is described as pains that God loosed — and Peter adds the staggering reason: it was not possible for death to keep him.
The Greek pictures the pains of death like birth pangs, as if the grave labored until it had to give him up. Death met, in Jesus, a life it had no right and no power to keep. Here is the bedrock of Christian hope — not that death is mild, but that it has been mastered. Because the tomb could not hold him, it cannot finally hold those who are his.
Acts 2:24 in the Original Language
odin (ὠδίν), 'pains' -- birth pangs; the grip of death pictured as labor that cannot keep its hold.
Frequently Asked Questions About Acts 2:24
What does Acts 2:24 mean?
God raised Jesus up, loosing the pains of death, because it was not possible for death to hold him.