Destroy (making havoc) (4199)(portheo) means to attack and cause complete destruction. To pillage. To devastate. To Reek havoc. To annihilate. Portheo applied not only to cities and lands but also to people. Used in secular Greek of besieging a town or of soldiers ravaging. Paul uses the imperfect tense which speaks of continuous attempt by Paul not just to ravage but to ruin and destroy Christianity. Although Acts 22:4 does not use portheo it does portray the effect Paul sought ("to the death" for the "Way" = Christians). Portheo - 3x in NT - destroy(2), destroyed(1). Acts 9:21 All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, "Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?" Galatians 1:13 For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it; Galatians 1:23 but only, they kept hearing, "He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy." PAUL PRE-CONVERSION A SUMMARY Raised in Tarsus (Acts 21:39) A Roman citizen (Acts 21:39) Studied under the famous rabbi Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) Studied in Jerusalem (Acts 22:3) Of the tribe of Benjamin (Phil 3:5) Of the sect of the Pharisees (Acts 23:6) Originally named Saul, probably after King Saul (Acts 9:1) His sister's son resided in Jerusalem (Acts 23:16-22) Probably had a wealthy father Was advancing as a leader in Judaism (Gal. 1:14) Was zealous for his Jewish traditions (Gal 1:14) Set out to destroy the church of God (Gal 1:13) Was given authority by the chief priests to murder Christians (Acts 9:1, 14) ><>><>><> TODAY IN THE WORD - Yigal Amir was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in 1970. His mother was a kindergarten teacher, his father a Jewish scribe. As a university student, Amir became actively involved in right-wing protests against Israel’s signing of the Oslo Accords. On November 4, 1996, Amir shot and killed Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin. Later at his trial, Amir defended himself very simply: “According to the Halacha [Jewish legal code], you can kill the enemy.” We could compare Saul of Tarsus to Yigal Amir. Saul belonged to the strictest sect of the Pharisees, a group whose concern wasn’t simply personal piety but also political revolution. Zeal for the Jew, in this first-century context of Roman occupation, called for violent overthrow of the Roman regime. As one scholar described it, “For the first-century Jew, ‘zeal’ was something you did with a knife.” Galatians 1:14 and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions. (advancing: Isa 29:13 57:12)( being: Ac 22:3 26:5,9 Php 3:4-6)(traditions: Jer 15:2 Mt 15:2,3,6 Mk 7:3-13 Col 2:8 1Pe 1:8) (John Brown's exposition of Gal 1:14) (John Eadie's exposition of Gal 1:14)