What does Acts 13:35 mean?

Paul continues quoting Hebrew prophecy to explain to his audience that Jesus is the Savior God promised through David's line and that His resurrection was always part of God's plan. Here, Paul quotes Psalm 16:10, a psalm of David, from the Septuagint. Paul will go on to show that this can't apply to David (Acts 13:36) and must apply to someone who died but was not buried long enough to decay. Peter makes the same point in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:27–31).

"Corruption" literally means to physically rot and decay. It can also be used in the sense of going to the place that is characterized by decay, that is, going to the realm of the dead or, more literally, to a pit or grave. That definition echoes the first half of Psalm 16:10 wherein David says, "For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol."

Jesus' body did not "see corruption" because He was buried for only three days before He rose again in a glorified body (Luke 24:1–3; John 20:6–7). He does not have to wait, like David and all David's other descendants, to be in a spiritual and physical position to rule as king and fulfill the covenant God made to David. David "served the purpose of God in his own generation" (Acts 13:36) and then died, unable to serve God or lead his people while his body was in the grave. Jesus doesn't have that restriction. He can reign in our hearts and save us from our sins now, reign on earth later during the millennial kingdom, and provide ultimate salvation for all God-followers in eternity.