Acts8:1

Translation

And SAUL was there, whole-heartedly agreeing

with the destruction of him by execution….

Paraphrase

All this time, I ASKED GOD FOR THIS CHILD was not only present, he was agreeing with, and enjoying the murder of this man….

Footnotes

1

This is a compound word made of “with” and “to be well pleased, to sense pleasure, to agree with or affirm something.” But it was not a simple affirming such as “I guess so,” it was a full endorsement accompanied by pleasure. The idea of pleasure should not be separated from this verb.

THIS WAS NOT DONE THE RIGHT WAY

The word chosen for the end of this short sentence is very important. It means “to take away” and refers to “the taking of a life, either by execution at the hands of the authorities, or of the destruction of a life through nefarious means.” That is why this word is sometimes rendered “murder.” The Jews did not have the authority to execute someone in a fail-safe way, but that is what they turned this into. They made sure this man did not survive; that is an execution, not a stoning.

Earlier, in verse 59, the verb for stoning is used in the imperfect form (continued action in the past). That makes the second time in this passage that verb is used in the Imperfect. By itself, this would not be enough to make an issue of, but the use of the word “murder” here in 8:1, helps us think back just a little bit and realize verse 59 was a hint that things were not being done properly.

Dr. Luke wrote this in a such a way that a reader who is well-informed about Jewish law and customs would begin to wonder about the appropriateness of what happened. Then at the end, he reveals that any such questions are well-founded. The Sanhedrin over-stepped their bounds and did not follow the Law they so vehemently defended. They broke the law in the process of killing a man for breaking the law.