Today’s question is, “When and why was Saul’s name changed to Paul?”
In this video I’ll answer that question from a biblical perspective.
Then afterwards, as always, I’ll share some helpful resources, so stick around until the end.
One of the often-thought-of “name changes” in the Bible is that of Saul to Paul.
The change is commonly linked to Saul’s conversion on the Damascus Road, when the
Lord Jesus commissioned him to take the gospel to the Gentiles.
However, at the time of Saul’s conversion, Jesus still addressed him as “Saul.”
Later, Jesus told Ananias to find “Saul” in Damascus and restore his sight.
Acts 9 goes on to describe “Saul” as increasing in spiritual strength and understanding of
Jesus as the Messiah.
So, it was not Jesus who changed his name on the road to Damascus.
If it wasn’t Jesus’ doing, how did the change from Saul to Paul happen, and when?
The answer is that Saul’s name was also Paul.
The custom of dual names was common in those days.
Acts 13:9 describes the apostle as “Saul, who was also called Paul.”
From that verse on, Saul is always referred to in Scripture as “Paul.”
Paul was a Jew, born in the Roman city of Tarsus.
He was proud of his Jewish heritage, as he describes in Philippians 3:5: “Circumcised
on the eighth day, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrew
parentage, in observance of the law a Pharisee.”
So zealous and devout was he that persecuting Christians was the natural way for him to
show his devotion.
He chose to use his Hebrew name, Saul, until sometime after he began to believe in and
preach Christ.
After that time, as “the apostle to the Gentiles,” he used his Roman name, Paul.
It would make sense for Paul to use his Roman name as he traveled farther and farther into
the Gentile world.
It is interesting that Paul began using his Roman name on Cyprus when the Roman proconsul
on that island was converted.
This was during Paul’s first missionary journey and involved a high-ranking, idolatrous
Gentile coming to faith in Christ.
The fact that the proconsul’s name was Sergius Paulus has led some to think that Saul took
the name Paulus/Paul as a reminder of this event, but the apostle’s name being the
same as the proconsul’s is most likely a coincidence.
Using his Roman name was fitting for the man who proclaimed that he would become “all
things to all people,” a Jew to the Jews in order to win the Jews, weak to the weak
in order to win the weak, etc., all for the sake of the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:19–23).
Adopting his Roman name would allow Paul to approach the Gentiles to whom he was sent
and speak to them in their own language, becoming as one of them and setting them at ease.
It is also possible that Paul gave up the use of his Hebrew name, Saul, with its regal
connotation and chose to use his Roman name, Paul, meaning “little” or “small,”
because he desired to became smaller in order to present Christ as greater.
Unlike the changing of Simon’s name to Peter, which Jesus did for a specific purpose, there
is no reference in the Bible to Jesus’ changing Saul’s name to Paul.
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