Acts 8:3

Made havoc [ε λ υ μ α ι ν ε τ ο]. Only here in New Testament. In Septuagint, Psalms 79:13, it is used of the laying waste of a vineyard by the wild boar. Compare Acts 9:21, where the A. V. has destroyed, but where the Greek is porqhsav, devastated. Canon Farrar observes : "The part which he played at this time in the horrid work of persecution has, I fear, been always underrated. It is only when we collect the separate passages - they are no less than eight in number - in which allusion is made to this sad period, 16 it is only when we weigh the terrible significance of the expressions used that we feel the load of remorse which must have lain upon him, and the taunts to which he was liable from malignant enemies" (" Life and Work of St. Paul "). Note the imperfect, of continued action.