Greek word · G1709
ἐμπνέω
empneō
to breath into
In ordinary Greek, 'to breathe, to be alive', also 'to blow on'. The prefix em- ('in') is mostly faded in use. Here it is followed by the genitive case ('of'), which names what the breath is full of or smells of. The phrase means 'breathing threat and murder': these things fill his breath.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
ἐν-πνέω, -ῶ
(Rec. ἐμπ-, see: ἐν) [in LXX: Deuteronomy 20:16, Joshua 10:28 ff. Joshua 11:11, 14 (ptcp. neut., for נֶפֶשׁ, נְשָׁמָה), Wisdom of Solomon 15:11 * ;]
1. to breathe on.
2. to breathe;
(a) absol.;
(b) with genitive part.: figuratively, ἀπειλῆς κ. φόνου, Acts 9:1.†
(AS)
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
In ordinary Greek, 'to breathe, to be alive', also 'to blow on'. The prefix em- ('in') is mostly faded in use. Here it is followed by the genitive case ('of'), which names what the breath is full of or smells of. The phrase means 'breathing threat and murder': these things fill his breath.
- Against the English
Most English versions say 'breathing out' (KJV, BSB, NIV), which suggests he is speaking threats aloud. ESV, NASB and WEB have just 'breathing'. The Strong's gloss 'to breathe into' leans too hard on the prefix and the other way: Saul is not breathing threats into anyone. The Greek is not mainly about speech. It describes what Saul is made of right now.
- How it drifted
'Breathing out' has been in English since Tyndale and the KJV ('breathing out threatenings'). It is a sensible paraphrase, but it turns a picture of a state of being into a picture of talking.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint, LXX) uses this verb for living creatures: Joshua 10:40 has 'every thing breathing of life' (pan empneon zōēs) for the people Joshua destroyed, with the same verb and the same genitive pattern. Luke's phrase may turn this around: instead of 'breathing life', Saul 'breathes threat and murder'. The link is possible, not certain. 2 Maccabees 9:7 describes the persecutor Antiochus IV as 'still… breathing fire in his rage against the Jews' just before God strikes him down. The pattern of a raging persecutor stopped by heaven is close to Acts 9 and also uses 'still' (eti). BDAG treats the genitive in Acts 9:1 as naming what the breath is full of.
Where it appears
Acts · 1
-
Acts 9:1 ἐμπνέων breathing out
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord. He approached the high priest
Here: A present participle: an ongoing state, 'breathing', not one outburst. With a genitive it means 'breathing of' something, the way one 'smells of' something. Threat and murder are the air he lives in and gives off.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.