Definition of apostle paul

PAUL, THE APOSTLE (Παῦλος, G, Rom. name meaning little; also called Saul, שָׁא֑וּל, Heb. name meaning asked for). A leading figure in the Early Church whose ministry was principally to the Gentiles.

A Jew of the tribe of Benjamin (Phil ), Saul, “who is also called Paul” (Acts ), was given the name of that tribe’s most illustrious member—Israel’s first king. His Heb. name Saul means “asked for,” while his Rom. cognomen Paulus means “little.”

I. Personal details

Paul was born in Tarsus in the region of Cilicia (Acts ; ; ). Little is known about his family directly. Jerome records a tradition which suggests that his parents originally came from a town in Galilee called Gischala, and that they fled to Tarsus during the Rom. devastations of Pal. in the 1st cent. b.c. (Comm. on Philemon, 23). Probably the home was fairly well-to-do, for if he were born a Rom. citizen (Acts , 38; ), his family must have possessed some wealth and standing. And from his rather self-conscious refe