The third and by far the most important influence that molded the early ideas of Paul and affected his teaching to the end was his Jewish birth and training. His Roman citizenship was a high honor, and its privileges stood him in good stead. His contacts with Greek customs and Greek learning in the city of Tarsus no doubt contributed to the preparation for his great missionary work. But the facts that Paul was not only a Jew but also a Pharisee remain in the foreground of the picture.
We are accustomed to refer to the apostle by his Roman name of Paul, from paulus, Latin for "little," a name that would be used mainly in his contacts with Gentiles; but it is significant that he also bore the Jewish name of Saul. That he should bear two names was not unusual. We learn from Acts (12:12), for example, that John was the Hebrew name of Mark (in Latin Marcus), the author of the second Gospel.
The Hebrew name Saul means literally "asked for"; and in view of the great significance attached by the Jews to the derivation of their names, it has been supposed that like Samuel the child had been born as a direct answer to prayer (see I Sam. 1:11, 20). Like Samuel, too, Paul may have been dedicated to the service of God even before he was born, for we read in Galatians Paul's only reference to his mother: "God ... separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace" (1:15). Or it may be that since his parents belonged to the tribe of Benjamin they named their boy after King Saul, who was himself a Benjamite.
