Many people mistakenly assume that just as our Lord changed Simon’s name to Peter (Matt. 16:18, John 1:41-42), He also must have changed Saul’s name to Paul after his dramatic Damascene conversion from Judaism to Christianity (Acts 9:1-19). Yet in this case, no name change took place.
Born in Tarsus to a Jewish mother and Roman father, he was given the Hebrew name Saul. Because of his father’s heritage, however, he was also given the Latin name Paul, a common practice in those days. Since he grew up in a strict Pharisee environment, Saul was by far the more appropriate name to go by, but after his conversion Saul was determined to bring the gospel to the Gentile world and began using his Roman name Paul so as to fit in with those he hoped to evangelize and win over.
Paul even makes mention of this very fact in his epistle to the Church in Corinth: “To the Jews I became a Jew to win over Jews; to those under the law I became like one under the law – though I myself am not under the law – to win over those under the law. To those outside the law I became like one outside the law. To the weak I became weak to win over the weak. I have become all things to all men that I might by all means save some. I do it all for he sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings” (1 Cor. 9:20-23).
