Names
His given name was Saul (Hebrew: שָׁאוּל, Sha'ul Šāʼûl ; "asked for, prayed for"), perhaps after the biblical king Saul, a fellow Benjamite and the first king of Israel. In biblical Greek: Σαούλ (Saul), Σαῦλος (Saulos), and Παῦλος (Paulos). And in Latin: Saul, Saulus and Paulus.
In the book of Acts, when he had the vision that led to his conversion on the Road to Damascus, Jesus called him "Saul, Saul", in the Hebrew tongue, and later, in a vision to Ananias of Damascus, "the Lord" referred to him as "Saul, of Tarsus". When Ananias came to restore his sight, he called him "Brother Saul".
In Acts 13:9, the author indicates a name change by saying "...Saul, (who also is called Paul,)..." and thereafter refers to him as Paul. He is called Paul in all other Bible books where he is mentioned.
Read more about this topic: Paul The Apostle
Famous quotes containing the word names:
“Almanacked, their names live; they
Have slipped their names, and stand at ease,
Or gallop for what must be joy,”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1985)
“We rarely quote nowadays to appeal to authority ... though we quote sometimes to display our sapience and erudition. Some authors we quote against. Some we quote not at all, offering them our scrupulous avoidance, and so make them part of our “white mythology.” Other authors we constantly invoke, chanting their names in cerebral rituals of propitiation or ancestor worship.”
—Ihab Hassan (b. 1925)
“Watt’s need of semantic succour was at times so great that he would set to trying names on things, and on himself, almost as a woman hats.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)