4199. portheó

Lexical Summary

portheó: To destroy, to ravage, to lay waste

Original Word: πορθέω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: portheó
Pronunciation: por-theh'-o
Phonetic Spelling: (por-theh'-o)
KJV: destroy, waste
NASB: destroy, destroyed
Word Origin: [prolongation from pertho "to sack"]

1. (figuratively) to ravage

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

destroy, waste.

Prolongation from pertho (to sack); to ravage (figuratively) -- destroy, waste.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from perthó (to ravage)
Definition
to destroy
NASB Translation
destroy (2), destroyed (1).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

STRONGS NT 4199: πορθέω

πορθέω: imperfect ἐπόρθουν; 1 aorist participle πορθήσας; (πέρθω, πεπορθα, to lay waste); from Homer down; to destroy, to overthrow (R. V. uniformly to make havock): τινα, Acts 9:21; τήν ἐκκλησίαν, Galatians 1:13; τήν πίστιν, ibid. 23.

Topical Lexicon

Root Imagery and Nuance

The verb conveys the picture of a marauding force that sacks a city, seizes valuables, and leaves ruin in its wake. It is more than opposition; it is calculated devastation, a thorough undoing of what once stood. When applied to Paul’s former life, the word depicts not a passer-by who objected to Christians, but a relentless assailant intent on wiping out the infant Church.

Occurrences in the New Testament

1. Acts 9:21 – witnesses in Damascus marvel that the one who “wreaked havoc in Jerusalem” now proclaims Jesus.
2. Galatians 1:13 – Paul recalls that he “tried to destroy” the Church of God.
3. Galatians 1:23 – believers recount, “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”

All three texts refer to the same period of Saul’s life (Acts 7–9), each highlighting the intensity of the campaign and the magnitude of the later turnaround.

Historical Context: Saul of Tarsus and the Early Church

• Jerusalem, approximately A.D. 32–34, witnessed escalating tension as the Gospel spread following Pentecost.
• Jewish leadership perceived the Way as a threat to covenant identity and temple centrality.
• Saul, trained under Gamaliel and zealous for ancestral traditions, secured official letters empowering him to enter synagogues, arrest believers, and extradite them to Jerusalem (Acts 9:1–2).
• The verb under study captures the legal, physical, and psychological onslaught that scattered disciples “throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria” (Acts 8:1).

Transformation and Testimony

The same man who ravaged the Church became its foremost missionary. Paul deliberately employs the verb twice in Galatians:
• First, to authenticate the severity of his pre-conversion hostility (“how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it,” Galatians 1:13).
• Second, to magnify the grace of God reported by Judean churches who knew him only by reputation (“The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy,” Galatians 1:23).

The juxtaposition of destruction and proclamation underscores that salvation is not self-reform but divine intervention (Galatians 1:15–16).

Theological Significance

1. Doctrine of Conversion – The verb intensifies the contrast between total ruin and new creation. If God can redirect a destroyer into a builder, no sinner is beyond hope (1 Timothy 1:13–16).
2. Ecclesiology – The Church, though fragile, is protected by Christ. Efforts to obliterate it ultimately advance its witness (Acts 8:4).
3. Sovereignty of God – Human schemes of devastation fall within God’s redemptive plan; what appears as loss becomes seed for wider harvest.

Practical Applications for the Church Today

• Confidence in Mission – Present-day persecution, whether violent or legislative, cannot silence the Gospel.
• Hope for Opponents – Pray for persecutors; tomorrow’s evangelist may be today’s aggressor.
• Corporate Memory – Like the early believers, record and retell accounts of radical conversion to fuel worship and courage.

Connection to Old Testament Patterns

The Septuagint uses the same verb group for invading armies that “laid waste” cities (e.g., Judges 5:6; 1 Samuel 23:1). Paul’s self-description therefore resonates with Israel’s historical experience of external ravagers. Yet in Messiah Jesus the destructive pattern is reversed: the destroyer becomes a vessel of blessing to the nations, fulfilling the promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:3; Galatians 3:8).

Eschatological Resonance

Revelation portrays forces seeking to “devour” God’s people, yet final victory belongs to the Lamb (Revelation 12:17; 17:14). Paul’s account offers a foretaste of that triumph—agents of havoc are either subdued by grace or judged in righteousness.

Summary Insight

Strong’s 4199 paints the darkest shade of opposition, yet simultaneously sets the stage for one of Scripture’s brightest conversions. The verb reminds readers that no strategy against Christ’s body can prevail, and that God’s grace can turn a scourge into a servant for the advance of the Gospel.

Forms and Transliterations

επορθει επόρθει ἐπόρθει επορθουν επόρθουν ἐπόρθουν πορθησας πορθήσας eporthei epórthei eporthoun epórthoun porthesas porthēsas porthḗsas

Englishman's Concordance

Acts 9:21 V-APA-NMS
GRK: ἐστιν ὁ πορθήσας εἰς Ἰερουσαλὴμ
NAS: not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those
KJV: this he that destroyed them which
INT: is the [one] having destroyed in Jerusalem

Galatians 1:13 V-IIA-1S
GRK: θεοῦ καὶ ἐπόρθουν αὐτήν
NAS: measure and tried to destroy it;
KJV: of God, and wasted it:
INT: of God and was destroying it

Galatians 1:23 V-IIA-3S
GRK: ἥν ποτε ἐπόρθει
NAS: which he once tried to destroy.
KJV: which once he destroyed.
INT: which once he destroyed

Strong's Greek 4199
3 Occurrences

ἐπόρθει — 1 Occ.
ἐπόρθουν — 1 Occ.
πορθήσας — 1 Occ.