1:23a
They only heard the account: This clause indicates how the believers in the district of Judea knew about Paul. Even though they had not met him (1:22), they had heard about his ministry in regions far away from them.
Some other ways to translate this clause are:
They only were hearing it said (English Standard Version)
-or-
They had only been told
only: The word only distinguishes between knowing Paul personally and knowing about his ministry. The believers in Judea did not know Paul personally. They only knew about his work.
Some other ways to translate this are:
However, they heard the report that
-or-
Nevertheless they heard about me
The word only does not refer to the content of the report (1:23b–c). It does not mean, “Here is the only thing they heard about Paul.”
1:23b
In 1:23b, Paul wrote what the Judean Christians were hearing about him. Introduce what they were hearing in a natural way in your language. One way is to use indirect speech. For example:
23a They had only heard that 23b the man who formerly persecuted them was now preaching the faith…
The man who formerly persecuted us: This clause means that Paul formerly caused the Christians to suffer. The word persecuted also occurs in 1:13b. Translate it here as you did there. For example:
This man who was attacking us (New Century Version)
-or-
the man who caused us to suffer during previous times
-or-
that I, the one who once harmed the church
is now preaching the faith: This clause means that Paul had begun to tell people to have faith or believe in Christ to be saved. He was preaching the good news about Christ.
Some other ways to translate this clause is:
was now preaching the message (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
is now telling people how to have faith ?in Christ?
-or-
is now teaching the ?gospel in which we have? faith
See faith, Meaning 2 in the Glossary.
1:23c
he once tried to destroy: This clause refers to “the faith,” that is, the gospel. The good news about Christ that Paul was preaching was the same good news that he had previously wanted to destroy.
Some other ways to translate this clause are:
he previously tried to destroy/spoil
-or-
that at one time he had wanted to finish/end
In some languages, it is not natural use the verb destroy with something like “faith” or “gospel.” These languages may have to translate this as:
He had previously tried to destroy ?the people who believed? such things.
-or-
Before, he wanted to make people stop believing these things.
The same word for destroy also occurs in 1:13c.
once: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as once means “formerly” or “before.” It does not mean “one time.” Paul had tried many times to destroy the gospel. It is the same word that Paul used in 1:23b.
General Comment on 1:23b–c
In Greek, this is one sentence with three clauses. In some languages, it may be more natural to divide these clauses into separate sentences. For example:
b Paul, who formerly persecuted us, is now preaching the faith. c He had once tried to destroy that faith.
-or-
b Paul formerly persecuted us. Now he is preaching about faith ?in Christ? . c He had once tried to destroy that faith.
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