Three OT anchor passages used by NT writers to argue Jesus's resurrection was prophesied: Psalms 16:10 (not see corruption); Psalms 110:1 (seated at right hand); Hosea 6:2 (third-day raising). Isaiah 53:10-12 also has resurrection implications.
1. Holy one not seeing corruption, Psalms 16:10 → Acts 2:25-32; Acts 13:34-37
"For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption." Psalm 16:10
NT application:
- Peter at Pentecost (
Acts 2:25-32), quotes Psalms 16:8-11 in full, then argues: "Brothers, I may tell you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath… he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul wasn't left in Sheol, and his flesh didn't see decay. This Jesus God raised up, to which we all are witnesses." - Paul at Pisidian Antioch (
Acts 13:34-37), repeats the argument with the same logic: David's body did decay; Jesus's did not.
Notes: The argument turns on (a) the Psalm's claim and (b) the empirical fact of David's tomb-with-bones. Critical scholarship reads Psalms 16 as David's confidence in immediate-temporal deliverance from death; NT writers read it as having an additional prophetic reference to a holy-one-whose-body-doesn't-decay (Jesus).
2. Sit at my right hand, Psalms 110:1 → Acts 2:34-35; cited 20+ times in NT
"Yahweh says to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet.'" Psalm 110:1
NT application: The most-cited OT verse in the NT. Used to argue Jesus's exaltation to the Father's right hand, which presupposes resurrection. Major occurrences:
| NT verse | Use | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Matthew 22:41-46 | Mark 12:35-37 | Luke 20:41-44 | Jesus's puzzle to Pharisees on Messiah being both David's son AND David's Lord | ||
Matthew 26:64 | Mark 14:62 | Luke 22:69 | Jesus at trial, "you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power" | ||
Acts 2:34-35 | Peter at Pentecost as resurrection-evidence | ||||
Acts 7:55-56 | Stephen's dying vision, Son of Man at right hand | ||||
Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1 | Pauline ascension/enthronement claims | ||||
Hebrews 1:3,13; 8.1; 10.12-13; 12.2 | Hebrews's High Priest enthronement argument | ||||
1 Peter 3:22 | Peter's gone-into-heaven argument |
3. Third-day raising, Hosea 6:2 → 1 Corinthians 15:4
"After two days he will revive us. On the third day he will raise us up, and we will live before him." Hosea 6:2
NT application: Paul, listing the gospel's contents in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4: "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures."
Notes: Hosea 6:2's original near-context referent is national Israel's restoration after exile, not individual resurrection. The "third day" detail likely depends on Jonah-typology (Jonah 1:17 → Matthew 12:40 "as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the huge fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth") in addition to Hosea 6:2. Paul's "according to the Scriptures" probably encompasses both.
4. Suffering servant's vindication, Isaiah 53:10-12
"Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him. He has caused him to suffer. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring. He will prolong his days and Yahweh's pleasure will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself…"
NT implication: The servant who is "cut off" (Isaiah 53:8) also "sees his offspring" and "prolongs his days", implying post-death vindication. Read traditionally as resurrection. Detailed exposition at.
5. Jonah typology, Jonah 1:17 → Matthew 12:39-40
Jesus directly cites Jonah's three days in the fish as a typological resurrection sign: "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, but no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the huge fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Matthew 12:39-40 || Luke 11:29-30.
Related NT events
| Event | Citation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empty tomb (women's discovery) | Matthew 28:1-8 | Mark 16:1-8 | Luke 24:1-12 | John 20:1-10 | |||
| Appearance to Mary Magdalene | John 20:11-18; cf. Mark 16:9-11 | ||||||
| Appearance on Emmaus road | Luke 24:13-35 (Jesus expounding Moses + prophets) | ||||||
| Appearance to disciples (Thomas absent) | Luke 24:36-49; John 20:19-23 | ||||||
| Appearance to Thomas | John 20:24-29 ("My Lord and my God") | ||||||
| Galilee appearances | Matthew 28:16-20; John 21:1-23 | ||||||
| Appearance to 500 | 1 Corinthians 15:6 | ||||||
| Appearance to James | 1 Corinthians 15:7 | ||||||
| Appearance to Paul | Acts 9:1-9; 22.1-21; 26.12-18; 1 Corinthians 15:8; Galatians 1:15-16 |
Theological framing
Apostolic kerygma centrality, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 and Peter's Acts speeches frame resurrection as the heart of the gospel. Without it, "your faith is vain" (1 Corinthians 15:17).
Historicity arguments, empty tomb + multiple-witness appearances + transformed disciples + early creed at 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 (datable within years of the event) constitute the traditional apologetic. Critical scholarship varies on what to do with this evidence; mainstream evangelical reads it as decisive.
Resurrection-typology, Christ's resurrection inaugurates a new humanity (1 Corinthians 15:20-23,45-49); believers' future bodily resurrection is patterned on his.