Acts 2:35 is Peter quoting Psalm 110 to show that God has placed Jesus in a position of royal authority, with every opposing power eventually brought under his rule. The verse is part of Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost, spoken to a crowd of Jewish listeners in Jerusalem who had just watched the Holy Spirit come upon the disciples. Peter is the speaker, and he is addressing the men of Judea and the residents of Jerusalem.
Until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’
Acts 2:35 (WEB)
What Acts 2:35 Means
The verse finishes a quotation. Peter says that David did not ascend into the heavens, but David himself spoke of a figure called “my Lord” who was told to sit at God’s right hand. Verse 35 supplies the outcome of that seating: the enemies of this Lord will be made into a footstool beneath his feet. In the ancient world, placing a foot on a defeated enemy was a picture of total victory and submission, so the image is one of complete and settled dominance.
What the verse does not promise is a timetable or a picture of how the conflict will look. Peter is not describing the end of history in detail or claiming that Christians will never face opposition. He is pointing to a settled fact about Jesus’ authority that is already in effect and will be fully displayed in time. The language is confident, but it describes Christ’s rule rather than the immediate removal of every hardship from believers’ lives.
The Context of Acts 2:35
The book of Acts was written by Luke, the same author who wrote the Gospel bearing his name, and it traces how the message about Jesus spread from Jerusalem outward. Luke was writing to a figure named Theophilus and, through him, to a wider community of Gentile and Jewish believers who needed to understand how the church began. The events of chapter 2 form the launch point for that story, with the Spirit’s arrival and Peter’s first public preaching.
Just before verse 35, Peter argues that God raised Jesus from the dead and exalted him to the right hand of the Father, and that the Holy Spirit poured out at Pentecost is evidence of that exaltation. Verse 36 then draws the conclusion that God has made this crucified Jesus both Lord and Christ. Reading verse 35 inside that argument shows that the footstool image is not a random battle scene but Peter’s proof, from Scripture, that the resurrected Jesus holds the authority David anticipated.
Key Phrases in Acts 2:35
Psalm 110:1
The LORD says to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet.”
(WEB)
This is the original Old Testament psalm that Peter quotes in Acts 2:35, and reading it shows how the seating and the footstool imagery were already part of David’s prophetic words. Seeing the source text helps clarify that Peter is drawing directly from a passage his audience would have recognized.
1 Corinthians 15:25
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
(WEB)
Paul echoes the same idea in his teaching on the resurrection, stating that Christ must reign until all enemies are put under his feet. Reading these two passages together shows that the New Testament writers consistently connected Christ’s current reign with a future completion of his victory over every opposing power.
A Short Prayer From Acts 2:35
Lord Jesus, you have been seated at the right hand of the Father, and you hold the authority to bring every opposing power under your feet. When I feel overwhelmed by conflict, by fear, or by the slow pace of things I long to see changed, remind me that your reign is secure. Help me to trust you with the outcomes I cannot control and to act faithfully in the place where you have put me today. Give me patience to wait for your timing and courage to live as one who belongs to a victorious king. Amen.
