At a glance
| Name meaning | "small; little" (Hitchcock's, for Paul); his Hebrew name Saul (Sha'ul) means "asked for / prayed for" |
| Era / period | 1st century AD; born at Tarsus around the time of Jesus; active c. AD 34–67 |
| Role | Apostle to the Gentiles; missionary church-planter; author of much of the NT epistle corpus |
| Key books | Romans, 1–2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1–2 Thessalonians, 1–2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon (and Hebrews, anonymous, authorship debated) |
| One-line significance | The persecutor turned apostle whose Damascus-road conversion (Acts 9:3-6) and Gentile mission shaped the spread and the theology of early Christianity |
Who Paul was
Paul (id G3972G; his Hebrew name Saul is catalogued under G4549G / G4569G / G4569H) was a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, born a Roman citizen in Tarsus, the capital of Cilicia (Acts 21:39; Acts 22:3; Philippians 3:5). The people catalog records 115 occurrences of his name across the NT, Acts plus the thirteen letters that bear his name plus a reference in 2 Peter 3:15. He was a Pharisee (Acts 23:6), trained in Jerusalem "at the feet of Gamaliel" (Acts 22:3), and by trade a tentmaker (Acts 18:3).
Scripture first introduces him not as a convert but as a persecutor: at the stoning of Stephen "the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul" (BSB) (Acts 7:58), and he then "ravaged the assembly" (WEB) (Acts 8:3). His self-description is stark, "I persecuted this Way to the death" (Acts 22:4); "I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God" (1 Corinthians 15:9).
Easton's notes the two-name pattern: Saul was his Hebrew home-name; Paul (Latin Paulus) the name "for use in the Gentile world." The narrative switches permanently to "Paul" at Cyprus during the first missionary journey (Acts 13:9), the point at which he steps into the lead of the Gentile mission.
Story arc (life, chronological + cited)
- Persecutor of the church, present at and consenting to Stephen's stoning; ravages the church; sets out for Damascus with letters to arrest believers (Acts 7:58; Acts 8:1-3; Acts 9:1-2).
- Damascus-road conversion, a light from heaven; "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?", "Who are you, Lord?", "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting" (Acts 9:3-5). Blinded three days, then healed and baptized by Ananias, who is told Paul is a "chosen vessel" to bear Christ's name "before the nations and kings, and the children of Israel" (Acts 9:15-18).
- Arabia + early preaching, by his own account he went into Arabia, returned to Damascus, and only after three years went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas/Peter (Galatians 1:16-18). He escapes Damascus lowered in a basket (Acts 9:23-25).
- Antioch + Barnabas, Barnabas brings him to Antioch, where for a year they teach and the disciples are first called "Christians" (Acts 11:25-26).
- First missionary journey, sent out from Antioch with Barnabas and John Mark; Cyprus, Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra (where he is stoned and left for dead, Acts 14:19), Derbe (Acts 13:1–Acts 14:28).
- Jerusalem Council, Paul and Barnabas argue at Jerusalem against requiring Gentile converts to be circumcised; the council sides with them (Acts 15:1-29).
- Second journey, after a "sharp contention" with Barnabas over John Mark they part; Paul takes Silas through Asia Minor, then crosses to Macedonia after the vision of the man saying "Come over to Macedonia and help us" (BSB) (Acts 16:9). Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens (the Areopagus address, Acts 17:22-31), and eighteen months at Corinth (Acts 18:11).
- Third journey, about three years at Ephesus (Acts 19; the silversmiths' riot, Acts 19:23-41), then back through Macedonia and Greece, with the farewell to the Ephesian elders at Miletus (Acts 20:17-38).
- Arrest + imprisonments, seized in the temple at Jerusalem (Acts 21:27-33); defends himself before the crowd, the Sanhedrin, Felix, Festus, and Agrippa; appeals to Caesar (Acts 25:11); shipwrecked on Malta en route (Acts 27); reaches Rome and lives two years under guard, "preaching the Kingdom of God" (Acts 28:30-31).
- Death, Acts ends with him alive in Rome. Tradition (recorded by Easton's) holds he was released, traveled again, was re-arrested, and was martyred at Rome under Nero, c. AD 66.
Role & significance
Paul is the chief human agent of the gospel's expansion beyond Judaism. He frames his own calling as apostleship "to the Gentiles" (Romans 11:13; Galatians 1:16; Galatians 2:7-9) and grounds its authority not in human commission but in direct revelation: "Paul, an apostle, not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:1); the gospel he preached "came to me through revelation of Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:11-12). His letters are the earliest datable Christian documents and the NT's densest theological source, on justification, grace, the law, the body of Christ, resurrection, and the unity of Jew and Gentile. He also recounts personal experiences found nowhere else: being "caught up… to the third heaven" (2 Corinthians 12:2-4) and his unexplained "thorn in the flesh" (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).
Key relationships
| Person | Relationship | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Jesus | The risen Christ who confronted and commissioned him | Acts 9:4-6; Acts 26:15-18 |
| Ananias | Disciple at Damascus who restored his sight and baptized him | Acts 9:10-18 |
| Barnabas | Sponsor and first co-missionary; later parted over John Mark | Acts 11:25-26; Acts 15:36-39 |
| Silas | Companion on the second journey | Acts 15:40 |
| Timothy | "True child in faith"; protégé and co-worker | Acts 16:1-3; 1 Timothy 1:2 |
| Luke | Travel companion and (by tradition) author of Acts | Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:11 |
| Aquila + Priscilla | Tentmaking hosts and ministry partners at Corinth | Acts 18:2-3; Romans 16:3 |
| Peter (Cephas) | Fellow apostle; visited early, later confronted at Antioch | Galatians 1:18; Galatians 2:11-14 |
| Gamaliel | His teacher of the law at Jerusalem | Acts 22:3 |
Key places
| Place | Significance | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Tarsus | Birthplace; Roman-citizen home city in Cilicia | Acts 21:39; Acts 22:3 |
| Jerusalem | Trained under Gamaliel; later arrested in the temple | Acts 22:3; Acts 21:27-33 |
| Damascus | The road of his conversion; first preaching | Acts 9:3-22 |
| Antioch (Syria) | Sending base; disciples first called "Christians" | Acts 11:26; Acts 13:1-3 |
| Ephesus | Three-year ministry on the third journey | Acts 19:1-10 |
| Corinth | Eighteen-month ministry; addressees of two letters | Acts 18:1-11 |
| Rome | Final imprisonment; two years preaching under guard | Acts 28:16-31 |
Key passages
| Passage | What happens |
|---|---|
| Acts 7:58–Acts 8:3 | Saul consents to Stephen's death and persecutes the church |
| Acts 9:1-19 | The Damascus-road conversion and his baptism by Ananias |
| Acts 13:9 | The narrative shifts from "Saul" to "Paul" as he leads on Cyprus |
| Acts 15:1-29 | The Jerusalem Council settles the Gentile-circumcision question |
| Acts 17:22-31 | The Areopagus address to the Athenians |
| Acts 26:1-23 | His defense before Agrippa, a third retelling of the conversion |
| Galatians 1:11-17 | Paul's own account: gospel by revelation, not from man |
| Philippians 3:4-8 | His Pharisee credentials "counted as loss" for Christ |
Contested / interpretive points
Chronology of the conversion and the Jerusalem visits. Acts and Galatians are read together in different ways, Galatians 1–2 emphasizes Paul's independence from Jerusalem; Acts narrates more frequent contact. Harmonizations of the visit-count (Gal. 1:18; 2:1 vs. Acts 9, 11, 15) vary among historians and are not resolved by the text itself.
Authorship of the thirteen letters. All thirteen name Paul as author; scholarship divides over how many he wrote directly.
| View | Position | Held by (tradition / school) |
|---|---|---|
| Pauline authorship of all thirteen | Paul wrote all thirteen letters bearing his name (some via an amanuensis) | Traditional Jewish-Christian view; most confessional / conservative scholarship |
| "Undisputed" core only | Seven letters (Rom., 1–2 Cor., Gal., Phil., 1 Thess., Phlm.) are by Paul; Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thess., and the Pastorals (1–2 Tim., Titus) are disputed or later | Mainstream critical scholarship |
| Hebrews | Anonymous; traditionally associated with Paul but its authorship is uncertain even in early tradition | Broad agreement across traditions that Hebrews is anonymous |
Date and manner of his death. Acts leaves him alive under house arrest in Rome; the martyrdom under Nero (c. AD 66) rests on later church tradition (so Easton's), not on the NT narrative.
This reference states the plainly narrated facts (the conversion, the journeys, the imprisonments) and presents the authorship and chronology questions side by side, endorsing none.