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:
“It is a sad truth, but we have lost the faculty of giving lovely names to things. Names are everything. I never quarrel with actions. My one quarrel is with words.... The man who could call a spade a spade should be compelled to use one. It is the only thing he is fit for.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“A knowledge that people live close by is,
I think, enough. And even if only first names are ever exchanged
The people who own them seem rock-true and marvelously self-sufficient.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“Row after row with strict impunity
The headstones yield their names to the element,
The wind whirrs without recollection....”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)