Kisah Para Rasul 8:3

8:3 But Saul was trying to destroy ¹  the church; entering one house after another, he dragged off ²  both men and women and put them in prison. ³ 

Kisah Para Rasul 9:1

The Conversion of Saul

9:1 Meanwhile Saul, still breathing out threats ⁴  to murder ⁵  the Lord’s disciples, went to the high priest

[8:3]  ¹ tn Or “began to harm [the church] severely.” If the nuance of this verb is “destroy,” then the imperfect verb ἐλυμαίνετο (elumaineto) is best translated as a conative imperfect as in the translation above. If instead the verb is taken to mean “injure severely” (as L&N 20.24), it should be translated in context as an ingressive imperfect (“began to harm the church severely”). Either option does not significantly alter the overall meaning, since it is clear from the stated actions of Saul in the second half of the verse that he intended to destroy or ravage the church.

[8:3]  ² tn The participle σύρων (surwn) has been translated as an finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[8:3]  ³ tn BDAG 762 s.v. παραδίδωμι 1.b has “εἰς φυλακήν put in prison Ac 8:3.”

[9:1]  ⁴ tn Or “Saul, making dire threats.”

[9:1]  ⁵ tn The expression “breathing out threats and murder” is an idiomatic expression for “making threats to murder” (see L&N 33.293). Although the two terms “threats” and “murder” are syntactically coordinate, the second is semantically subordinate to the first. In other words, the content of the threats is to murder the disciples.