Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 2:35
Until I make thy foes thy footstool.
35. until 1 make thy foes thy footstool ] To put the foot on the neck of an enemy is an expression for complete victory. This was an Oriental custom (cp. Jos 10:24). Christ’s enemies are to become His footstool, but His power shall not end then. When they are all subdued His kingdom shall continue and be more glorious.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 35. Until I make thy foes thy footstool.] It was usual with conquerors to put their feet on the necks of vanquished leaders, as emblematical of the state of subjection to which they were reduced, and the total extinction of their power. By quoting these words, Peter shows the Jews, who continued enemies to Christ, that their discomfiture and ruin must necessarily take place, their own king and prophet having predicted this in connection with the other things which had already been so literally and circumstantially fulfilled. This conclusion had the desired effect, when pressed home with the strong application in the following verse.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Christ is commissioned and empowered to reign over and govern all creatures, and all their actions, till the consummation of all things, so long as the world lasts, in which he, his people, and truths, will have enemies, Eph 1:20-22; 1Co 15:27,28.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Until I make thy foes thy footstool.
[See comments on Mt 22:44].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Till I make ( ). Second aorist active subjunctive of with after for the future, a common Greek idiom. This dominion of Christ as Mediator will last till the plan of the kingdom is carried out (1Co 15:23-28). Complete subjugation will come, perhaps referring to the custom of victorious kings placing their feet upon the necks of their enemies (Jos 10:24).
Therefore assuredly ( ). Assuredly therefore, without any slip or trip ( from privative and , to trip, to slip. Peter draws a powerfully pungent conclusion by the use of the adverb and the inferential conjunction . Peter’s closing sentence drives home the point of his sermon: “This very Jesus whom ye crucified (note , strongly emphatic
ye ), him God made both Lord and Messiah” ( ), as David foretold in Ps 110 and as the events of this day have confirmed. The critics are disturbed over how Luke could have gotten the substance of this masterful address spoken on the spur of the moment with passion and power. They even say that Luke composed it for Peter and put the words in his mouth. If so, he made a good job of it. But Peter could have written out the notes of the address afterwards. Luke had plenty of chances to get hold of it from Peter or from others.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Thy footstool. A. V. omits of thy feet.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Until I make thy foes,” (heos an though tous schthrous sou hupopodion) “Until the time when I put, place, or set your enemies (as) your footstool.” The Jews always considered this 11Oth Psalm to be a Messianic Psalm that asserted the eventual kingly rule and regal supremacy of the Messiah over all their enemies.
2) “Thy footstool,” (ton podon sou) “Of your feet,” on which you may rest your feet in complete and final subjection over them, as an ancient king placed his heel on the neck of a conquered enemy as a public demonstration of total subjection of the conquered and all that he once controlled, Jos 10:24. This does not mean that Jesus will then quit reigning, but that He will no longer have enemies to subdue as He reigns over the house of Jacob forever 1Co 15:25-28; Heb 1:13; Luk 1:33.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
35. Thy footstool A figure taken from the custom of ancient conquerors of setting their feet on the heads or necks of their captured foes. So Josephus paints the Jewish hero Jonathan as treating Pudens the Roman: “Treading upon the dead general he shook his bloody sword, with his shield in his left hand, shouting many things to the army, boasting over his fallen foe, and scoffing at the Romans looking on.” But the conqueror in the present Messianic image is sitting in quiet victorious state beside the throne of Jehovah, with all his foes lying like a footstool beneath his feet.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Act 2:35. Until I make thy foes thy footstool. This text is quoted on the present occasion with the happiest address, as suggesting to the Jews, in the words of David, their great prophetic monarch, how certain their own ruin must be, if they went on to oppose Christ. Elsner on the place has a fine collection of antient passages, referring to the custom of trampling upon the vanquished, dead or alive. See the note on Psa 110:1.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
35 Until I make thy foes thy footstool.
Ver. 35. Thy footstool ] They that will not bend shall break; Christ will fetch in his rebels, and set his feet of fine brass on the necks of them,Rev 1:15Rev 1:15 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Thy footstool = the footstool of Thy feet. Quoted from Psa 110:1. See note on Mat 22:44.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
thy foes: Gen 3:15, Jos 10:24, Jos 10:25, Psa 2:8-12, Psa 18:40-42, Psa 21:8-12, Psa 72:9, Isa 49:23, Isa 59:18, Isa 60:14, Isa 63:4-6, Luk 19:27, Luk 20:16-18, Rom 16:20, Rev 19:19-21, Rev 20:1-3, Rev 20:8-15
Reciprocal: Mat 22:44 – The Lord Mat 25:33 – his Luk 20:42 – the Lord Gal 3:8 – In Heb 10:13 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
See notes on verse 34