When and why was Saul's name changed to Paul?

For the first time, and that in connection with this incident, the name of Paul is mentioned. Some have suggested that he took the name in honor of Sergius Paulus, but that is incorrect. Paul is a Roman name, and means "little." Later he writes of himself as "less than the least of all saints." He took the lowest place, and the name which signifies this comes now into prominence. Barnabas is taking the second place; not Barnabas and Saul, but Paul and Barnabas is now the order.

For Barnabas and Saul the proconsul had called. Till this time they have always been mentioned in this order. Henceforth a change is noticeable. The latter will often, though not always, be named first (13:43,46,50, 15:2,22,35), the exceptions to this order being 14:14, 15:12,25. And now as Paul, and no longer as Saul, is the citizen of Tarsus to be designated. Why this change of name is a matter of conjecture. Some have thought that he took it out of compliment to the distinguished convert Sergius Paulus, a very unlikely supposition. Against this it has been urged, and it has weight, that Luke calls him Paul before the proconsul was convinced of the truth of Christianity. And to this one would add, that the historian in no way intimates that the appellation Paul was now for the first time bestowed. His manner of introducing it would confirm such an impression. "Saul, who is also Paul," are his words. The ordinary reader would conclude that Saul already bore the name of Paul. We believe this was the case; and since it was nothing strange for one, a Jew, to bear also a Roman name, the citizen of Tarsus may quite well have been called Paul ere he set foot in Cyprus. So now working among Greeks and Gentiles, since his Hebrew name might to Greek ears convey anything but an honourable title, Saul meaning in Greek conceited or affected, he was quite satisfied to bear his Roman name, which, if it suggested that he was little of stature, yet spoke to Gentiles of nothing that could excite a prejudice against him. Henceforth then he is called, and he adopted as his name, Paul, not Saul.

Saul now assumes the name of Paul, having (we are not told how) changed his Jewish name for a Roman one. The moment was a convenient one. The word literally signifies "to work"; but I do not think this is either the source or the intention of it.

It was in connection with this same event that the name of "Saul" was dropped, and that of "Paul" was adopted. It is possible that he had been known by both names,* or, it might be, as others think, that he here receives the name of "Paul" because of his victory over Satan's craft and opposition, and the rescue of one of his captives in the person of Sergius Paulus. However it is to be accounted for, Saul of Tarsus becomes henceforward Paul.

*"Saul" would seem to be the Hebrew, and "Paul" the Roman form of the same name.

On this occasion they met with the deputy of the island, Sergius Paulus, who was besieged by the efforts of a certain sorcerer that sought to exercise and retain influence over the mind of the great man. But the time was come for falsehood to fall before the truth. When he therefore attempted to turn his old arts against the gospel, and those that were the instruments of bringing it to the island, God asserted His own mighty power. For when Elymas withstood Barnabas and Saul, Saul, "who also is called Paul" (the Spirit of God taking this opportunity of bringing forward his Gentile name in a mission that was to be pre-eminently among the Gentiles, although beginning with the Jew according to the ways of God), being then filled with the Holy Ghost, sets his eyes on the evil worker, gives him his true character, searches him through and through, and, more than this, pronounced a sentence, a judicial sentence, from the Lord, which was at once accomplished. As we are told, "Immediately there fell upon him a mist and a darkness, and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand." It was the sad sign of his guilty race, the Jews, who, by their opposition to the gospel of the grace of God, and more particularly among the Gentiles, are now doomed to the same blindness after a spiritual sort. "Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord." Beautiful contrast with Simon Magus! What astonished Simon Magus was the power displayed; what astonished the deputy was the truth. The admiration of power is natural to man, and particularly to fallen man. He, conscious of his weakness, covets the power that he would like to wield, having still the consciousness of the place to which he was called, but from which he has fallen; for God put every creature under him, and although through sin he is fallen from his estate, he has in nowise abandoned his pretensions, and he would fain have the power that would enable him not to hold up only, but to reverse if possible the sad consequences of the fall. Delight in the truth, a heart for that which God reveals, flows only from the Holy Ghost; and this was the happy portion of the deputy. He believed, and believed after a very different sort, with a divinely exercised conscience by the power of the Spirit, instead of a merely intellectual credit receiving upon evidence that which approved itself to the judgment of his mind.

But it was at its capital, Nea Paphos (not exactly the spot so celebrated as the dissolute seat of Aphrodite's worship), that the gospel came into collision, not with Jewish prejudice only, but with this intensified and embittered by religious imposture and sorcery. 'And when they had gone through the whole island unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer (or magician), a Jewish false prophet, whose name [was] Bar-Jesus, who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. He having called to [him] Barnabas and Saul sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is interpreted his name) withstood them, seeking to turn aside the proconsul from the faith.' Salamis being on the east, as Paphos on the west, they had to cross the island as a whole; as the best copies say, though this is omitted in the common text. The interest of the Roman governor aroused the jealous opposition of the corrupt Jew who had had influence over a mind shocked with demoralizing idolatry but open to displays of power, not without some show of revelation. What could be more overwhelming to the Jewish impostor's influence than the grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ? But the pro-consul1 (not 'deputy' or legate, as in the Authorized Version) had a conscience in exercise and by grace an ear for the truth, which soon turned toward that which was of God, when the testimony reached his soul. Bar-Jesus (= son of Jesus, or Joshua) called himself 'Elymas', the wise man, or magician which was a title apparently akin to the Oriental 'Ulemah'. This wickedness drew out the solemn rebuke of Saul (henceforward called Paul)2 accompanied by a sentence from God which the Holy Ghost gave him not only to utter but to execute. The rareness of such judicial inflictions under the gospel makes their occurrence all the more impressive. {1 Wiclif and the Rhemish, guided by the Vulgate, say 'pro-consul'; Tyndale, Cranmer, and the Geneva Version give the vague 'ruler of the country'. It is of the more moment to be exact, as Cyprus under the Romans had been imperial and hence governed by a pro-praetor; but not long before it had been handed over by Augustus to the people, which involved government by a pro-consul, ἀνθύπατος instead of the former ἀντιστράτηλος. 2 We need not speculate on the question whether the apostle had always two names, a Jewish one and a Gentile or Roman; or whether the latter may have been now given at this epoch, if not incident, when he entered publicly on his work among the Gentiles.}

Elymas was an apostate Jew, who had sold himself to the service of the devil, and he became the chief opponent of the Gospel at Paphos But just as Satan's power was expressed in him, so the power of the Holy Spirit energized Saul, and there was a very striking and drastic proof given that "greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4). The true character of the man was unmasked, and the hand of the Lord laid upon him in judgment. It is striking that Saul should now be used to bring upon another something similar to that which had fallen on himself. After three days the scales had fallen from the eyes of Saul. On Elymas there descended a mist and darkness, which fitly matched the misty darkness of his mind. The deputy believed, and it was the teaching of the Lord that impressed him rather than the miracle.

From this point in the narrative Luke gives Saul his new name of Paul (meaning, Little), and at the same time we see the Spirit thrusting him into the leading position in service and ministry, so that in verse 13, "Paul and his company," is the phrase used. There is a designed connection, we think, between the change of name and the change of position. He who is Little becomes the Leader; and this illustrates the Lord's words in Matthew 18:4. Did this have something to do with John Mark leaving the company at this juncture, we wonder? Barnabas, his uncle, was being somewhat overshadowed.

From this time our attention is drawn particularly to the work of Saul, whose name is in this chapter changed to Paul, meaning "little," for one who is the most greatly used of God is, in his own estimation "less than the least of all saints" (Eph.3:8). In verse 1 there is no indication that anyone had a place superior to any other. Five prophets and teachers are mentioned as being in the Antioch assembly, and Saul is in fact listed last. Simeon's name is Jewish, but his last name, Niger, (meaning "black") may indicate he was dark-skinned. Lucius was of Cyrene in the area of Libya.

It is very evident, from the few hints that we have in the sacred narrative of the early life of Paul, that he was formed in a remarkable manner by the whole course of his education for what he was to become, and for what he was to accomplish. This was of God, who watched over the development of that wonderful mind and heart, from the earliest period. (Gal. 1:16) Then he was known as "Saul of Tarsus" — this being his Jewish name — the name given him by his Jewish parents. Paul was his Gentile name; but we will speak of him as "Saul" until he is named "Paul" by the sacred historian.

Barnabas and Saul, with John Mark as their ministering attendant, are thus sent forth by the Holy Ghost. The Jews in virtue of their connection with the promises, have the gospel first preached to them; but the conversion of Sergius Paulus marks, in a special manner, the beginning of the work amongst the Gentiles. It also marks a crisis in the history of the apostle. Here his name is changed from Saul to Paul and now — save in Jerusalem (Acts 15:12-22) — it is no longer "Barnabas and Saul," but "Paul and his company." He takes the lead; the others are only those who are with Paul. But the scene has also a typical character.