The conjunction but should contrast the activity of those who wept for Stephen with the behavior of Saul, who was determined to destroy the church.

Tried to destroy translates a Greek imperfect tense, which seems to have this force in the context. (see Jerusalem Bible “Saul then worked for the total destruction of the Church.”) Some exegetes have, however, taken it simply in the sense of continuous action “was destroying.” On the other hand, it is possible to translate this verb, which appears only here in the New Testament, with the meaning of “harass” or “bring great trouble to.” If this done, then it is unnecessary to indicate the fact that this is something that Saul tried, and it may be stated as something which in fact he did do (see New American Bible “Saul began to harass the church”; An American Translation* “but Saul harassed the church”).

The term destroy must be relatable to a group of people, not simply to a building, which might be suggested by a term such as in often employed for church. Sometimes destroy may be rendered as “cause to disappear” or “cause them not to be.”

The Greek literally states that Saul dragged out “both men and women,” but these “men and women” were believers, as the Good News Translation has indicated.

Saul’s role in the persecution of the church was that of a prosecutor, and therefore the phrase threw them into jail may need to expressed by a causative “caused them to be put into jail.” In some languages this is referred to variously as “caused them to be tied up,” “caused them to be locked up,” or “caused them to be put away.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .