Saul’s change of name to Paul

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1. This article is a good introduction to a lot of onomastic issues.

   Margaret Williams’ work shows that double names were not common among Jews, and that when they did occur, there was no tendency for the two names to sound alike. This suggests that the many double names that we see in the NT are due to the special circumstances that pertained. For example, the NT features people who moved between Palestine, where a Latin name would signal allegiance to the occupying power, and the diaspora, where a Latin name would imply the possibility of Roman citizenship and could therefore be protective. Yes, Paul must have had a Latin cognomen from birth, but that does not mean that “Paul” was it. “Paul” may have been a new cognomen that he took from Sergius Paulus, likely to contrast himself with Elymas-BarJesus, who was a Christian of sorts, and had presumptuously taken the name “BarJesus”. Thus, Luke writes, “But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “You son of the devil …”. Whereas Elymas took the name of our Lord, Saul called himself “small”. This was Paul’s understanding of himself: “for I am the least of the apostles”. The name had the advantage of sounding similar to Saul. Also, Saul’s taking of this name could have been a nod towards Sergius Paulus, and could therefore have been a means of competing with Elymas for Sergius’s allegiance.

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   • Thanks Richard; this is helpful. The sounding alike point is not relevant, I think—I’m doubtful of the choice of ‘Paul’ because it rhymes with ‘Saul’, along with you. However, that ‘Paul’ was his Latin cognomen seems to me the likeliest explanation, particular given ‘also known as Paul’. The speculation that Stephen Mitchell and others promote, that he took the name ‘Paul’ from Sergius Paulus, seems to me to lack evidence, unless there is something I’m missing.

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     • I’m floating the idea that ‘Paul’ was his cognomen, but not his original cognomen. People sometimes adopted new cognomina. The similarity in sound between Paul and Saul IS relevant. Similar sounding second names were given to adults, it seems, but were rarely, if ever, given at birth. I suppose that they gave a new name with a similar sound to an adult because they were already familiar with the original name. In any case, the near homophone phenomenon abounds in the NT and is rare elsewhere and this demands an explanation. More work needs to be done on this, if anyone has time. The “also known as Paul” is consistent with “Paul” being a name that he took in adult life. Compare, for example, “Ignatius also known as Theophorus”.

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       • Thanks Richard. Have you published on the evidence for changes of cognomina? I’d be very interested to see the evidence. Where is the Ignatius example from, for instance (forgive my ignorance)?

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         • Hi Steve. Start with my Tyndale Bulletin article “Renaming by Paul and the Destination of Acts”. You can find the link on the right side of my blog page here: http://paulandco-workers.blogspot.com
           If you send me an email, I can reply with some further data that summarizes my latest thinking in two simple tables.
           Ignatius starts all his letters with “Ιγνατιος ο και θεοφορος”.

         • Thanks Richard. I’ll take a look.

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