The Greek verb empneo means to breathe into, breathe upon, or inhale — used once in the New Testament to describe Saul 'breathing out threats and murder' against the disciples, a vivid metaphor for obsessive malice.
Empneo appears in Acts 9:1 in a striking image: Saul was 'still breathing out threats and murder against the Lord's disciples.' The word captures the totality of his hostile mission — he was not merely carrying out orders but inhaling and exhaling persecution as his very atmosphere. This context makes his Damascus Road encounter all the more dramatic: the man whose breath was destruction encounters the One who breathes life. The same root word (pneo — to breathe) underlies pneuma (spirit/breath) — reminding us that what fills us determines what we breathe out. When the Spirit fills us, what we breathe out is life, blessing, and the testimony of Christ.