πορθέω

From the study of Acts 9:21

Range of meaning

To sack, ravage or lay waste. In Greek generally it is used for armies plundering cities and territory. Applied to people, it means to destroy or wreck them, carrying out a campaign of devastation.

Against the English

KJV 'destroyed', YLT 'laid waste', WEB/ESV 'made havoc', NIV 'raised havoc', BSB 'wreaked havoc'. All are acceptable. 'Havoc' keeps the military flavour (an old battle cry for pillage). 'Destroyed' can wrongly suggest that he killed everyone he targeted.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used widely in classical and Hellenistic Greek for the sacking of cities, and by Josephus for ravaging land. In the New Testament it appears only three times: here, and in Paul's own words in Gal 1:13 ('I persecuted the church of God and ravaged it') and Gal 1:23, where the Judean churches say 'the one who once persecuted us now preaches the faith he once ravaged'.

From the study of Galatians 1:13

Range of meaning

To ravage, plunder, sack or lay waste. It is used mainly of armies destroying cities and territory, and by extension of any attempt to wipe something out.

Against the English

KJV 'wasted it' is the old military sense ('to lay waste'), which modern readers may hear as 'wasted time'. WEB 'ravaged', BSB/NIV/ESV/NASB 'tried to destroy' (reading the tense as an attempt). 'Tried to destroy' is defensible, but it softens the picture of a city being sacked.

How it drifted

Only in the KJV, where English 'waste' has weakened from 'devastate' to 'squander'.

Used elsewhere in the period

The standard verb in Greek historians and in Josephus for sacking cities and ravaging land. In the New Testament it occurs only of Paul: here, in 1:23 ('is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy'), and in Acts 9:21 ('the one who ravaged those who call on this name').

From the study of Galatians 1:23

Range of meaning

To lay waste, plunder, sack or ravage. It is mainly used for armies destroying cities and lands, and by extension for violently trying to wipe out a group of people.

Against the English

The KJV's 'destroyed' sounds as if the job was finished. Modern versions say 'tried to destroy', reading the imperfect as an unsuccessful attempt. Neither fully conveys the military image of a city being besieged and plundered. 'Ravaged' comes closer.

How it drifted

In older English 'destroy' could mean 'to ravage', but today's readers hear complete annihilation. Read that way, the KJV implies something the Greek tense does not say.

Used elsewhere in the period

From Homer onward it is used for sacking cities. 4 Maccabees uses it for Antiochus IV's violent campaign against the Jewish people and their ancestral law. In the New Testament it appears only three times: Gal 1:13 ('I was ravaging the church of God'), here, and Acts 9:21, where the people of Damascus ask in amazement, 'Is this not the man who ravaged those who call on this name in Jerusalem?' Acts uses the same word in a similar report, which suggests it was the standard way people described what Paul had done.