Paul the Apostle
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(the name means small) (Acts 13:9, 13, 16, 43, 46, 50; 14:9 and elsewhere). The Apostle Paul first bore the Hebrew name Saul, meaning asked for or prayed for, and only some time after his conversion to Christ came to be called Paul. He was a native of Tarsus, the chief city of Cilicia (Acts 9:11; 21:39), which was then renowned for the learning of its inhabitants, and he possessed the rights of Roman citizenship (Acts 22:28–29). By descent he was a Hebrew of the tribe of Benjamin; by upbringing and confession he belonged, like his father, to the celebrated sect of the Pharisees.