Greek word · G3075
λυμαίνομαι
lymainomai
to ravage
To damage, maltreat, outrage, ruin. Classical and Hellenistic Greek used it for mutilating bodies, devastating land, and wild beasts mauling their prey (LSJ; BDAG: 'to cause harm in a destructive manner, harm, injure, damage, spoil, ruin, destroy').
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
λυμαίνομαι
(λύμη, outrage), [in LXX chiefly for שָׁחַת pi., hi., also for כִּרְסֵם, etc. ;]
1. to outrage, maltreat: with accusative, Acts 8:3.
2. to corrupt, defile (Ezekiel 16:25, Proverbs 23:8, 4Ma.18:8, al.).†
(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
To damage, maltreat, outrage, ruin. Classical and Hellenistic Greek used it for mutilating bodies, devastating land, and wild beasts mauling their prey (LSJ; BDAG: 'to cause harm in a destructive manner, harm, injure, damage, spoil, ruin, destroy').
- Against the English
KJV/YLT 'made havoc of' and WEB 'ravaged' keep the image of violent devastation. BSB/NIV 'destroy' is accurate about the goal but flatter, and could suggest Saul succeeded. ESV/NASB 'ravaging' is closest.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In the Septuagint Psalm 79:14 (Hebrew/English 80:13), a wild boar from the forest 'ravaged' (elymēnato) God's vine, Israel. Isaiah 65:25 LXX promises that on God's holy mountain the animals 'will not do harm nor ravage'. Paul later chose a similar military word himself: 'I was ravaging it' (eporthoun, Gal 1:13, 23), the term for sacking a city.
From the study of Sirach 28:23
- Range of meaning
To treat shamefully, damage, ruin, ravage, maul. Used of animals mangling, armies laying waste, and people wrecking something.
- Against the English
KJV/Brenton 'devour' suggests eating, which the verb does not mean. WEB's 'destroy' is closer but loses the picture of an animal mauling its prey.
- How it drifted
The KJV's 'devour' probably came from the lion-and-leopard imagery, not from the verb.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Acts 8:3 (Saul 'ravaged' the church). Greek Old Testament uses: of vineyards ruined, of people maltreated (e.g. Ps 79[80]:14 of the boar ravaging the vine). The Vulgate's 'laedet' ('will injure') is likewise not 'devour'.
Where it appears
Acts · 1
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Acts 8:3 ἐλυμαίνετο was destroying
But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
Here: A violent word, used of wild animals tearing at something and of armies laying waste. It appears only here in the NT. The imperfect tense shows ongoing or repeated action: he 'was ravaging' or 'set about ravaging'. It does not say the destruction was finished.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.