Walking With Christ

Acts 13:9-10 (9)But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him (10)and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?(ESV)

What’s in a name? There are several biblical characters who change names in the bible. Abram became Abraham. Sarai became Sarah. Jacob became Israel. Hoshea became Joshua. Simon became Peter. Lo-Ammi and Lo-Ruhamah became Ammi and Ruhamah respectively.

Then Saul became Paul. But did Saul actually become Paul, or was Saul Paul all along?

I recently heard something about people getting renamed in the bible and how Paul was never actually renamed. I always thought that Saul was renamed to Paul after he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. After hearing that he was never actually renamed and was still known as Saul to the Hebrew people, I had to do a bit of research and a lot of reading. I can’t find any reference to him being renamed. Everything I find says that Paul was his Greek or Roman name that he used in his dealings with non-Hebrew people. Since he essentially became the emissary to all gentiles, it only made sense for him to mainly use his Roman name.

I’m always amazed at the things we think we know but don’t.