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"Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem?"
(Acts 9: 21).
"I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it" (Gal. 1: 13).
"They had heard only, that he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the
faith which once he destroyed" (Gal. 1: 23).
The reason we have examined this word first, and not the word persecute will become
evident as we proceed.
The word translated "persecute" is dioko, a word in common use both in the apostle's
day and at the time of the translation of the Greek O.T. Like all words that are in
constant use, it takes upon itself secondary meanings, but a consultation of the LXX of
the Pentateuch leaves us in no doubt as to its primary significance.
"He pursued after him seven days" (Gen. 31: 23).
"The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake" (Exod. 15: 9).
"Ye shall chase your enemies . . . . . chase an hundred . . . . . put ten thousand to
flight" (Lev. 26: 7, 8).
"Ye shall flee when none pursueth you" (Lev. 26: 17).
"The sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them . . . . . they shall fall when none
pursueth" (Lev. 26: 36).
"That which is altogether just shalt thou follow" (Deut. 16: 20).
"Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer" (Deut. 19: 6).
"Them that hate thee, which persecuted thee" (Deut. 30: 7).
"How should one chase a thousand" (Deut. 32: 30).
The only occurrence in the Pentateuch of the use of this word in a secondary sense is
that of Deut. 16: 20, but this cannot be pressed as the Alexandrian version reads
phulasso "to keep". There can be no doubt that the mistaken idea of "pursuing" as one
would "a calling" or with good intention is foreign to the usage of the word. The
meaning read into the words of Judges 8: 4 "faint yet pursuing", and kept alive by a
popular hymn is altogether false.
Coming to the New Testament the six occurrences of dioko in Matthew are all
translated "persecute" and can mean nothing else. Of the two references in Luke, one,
Luke 17: 23 is employed in a secondary sense. In John, the three references are
translated "persecute" and can mean nothing else. Nine times does the word dioko occur
in the Acts, and in each case the only translation is "persecute". In the Epistles, the word
is more often used in its secondary sense as in Romans, where it is translated three times
"follow", once "given to" and once "persecute". In I Corinthians it is twice rendered
"persecute" and once "follow after". In II Corinthians it occurs but once, and in this
reference it is translated "persecute". In the epistle to the Galatians there are five
occurrences of dioko all of which are translated "persecute". In Philippians it occurs
three times, once translated "persecute", once "followed after" and once "press toward".
In I Thess. 5: 15; I Tim. 6: 11; II Tim. 2: 22; Heb. 12: 14; and I Pet. 3: 11 it is used
in the secondary sense, and in II Tim. 3: 12 and Rev. 12: 13 it is again "persecute".
There are therefore thirty-one passages where the word is translated either "persecute" or
"suffer persecution", and thirteen where the translation is "follow" or a similar word.