 |  |
no importance from one point of view, but of great importance if the omission of the
words "at Ephesus" leads to the fantastic interpretation, "The saints which are".
#2.
Saul, who is also called Paul (Eph. 1: 1).
pp. 140, 141
Ephesians is the Epistle of the glorified Christ. In it He is seen raised, ascended,
seated. All things are under His feet. He is Head; He is Lord. Yet the words with
which the glorious revelation opens refer not to God, nor to Christ, but to the earthen
vessel through whom the truth of the mystery was made known. Evidently it is not a
matter of indifference who writes the Epistle, and the claims put forward by the Apostle
in Eph. 3: make it imperative that we should know something of the instrument through
whom such a revelation was made.
Paul (Paulos).--The Epistles contain thirty occurrences of the name Paul, one being
found in II Pet. 3: 15. It occurs more often in I Corinthians than in any other epistle,
largely because of the faction that said "I am of Paul". When he first appears on the page
of Scripture, Paul's name is Saul, and it is a matter of speculation as to whether,
(1)
Saul was his Hebrew name, and Paul his Gentile name from the first. This view
was held by Origen.
(2)
He took the name Paul, when he began to preach. This was the opinion of Augustine.
(3)
Like Peter, he received a new title at his ordination at Antioch. This was the
teaching of Chrysostom.
(4)
He received the name of Paul only when the Proconsul of the same name was
converted. This was the conclusion reached by Bede.
(5)
The title was meant to commemorate that victory. This was taught by Jerome.
A change of name upon entry into a new phase of life or ministry was familiar both to
Jew and Gentile. Abram is changed to Abraham, Simon is changed to Peter, Roman
Generals often assumed as a title the name of the country of their triumphs; thus Scipio
took the name Africanus, and whether or not Saul possessed the Gentile name Paul from
the first, the fact remains that Scripture does not use the name until Sergius Paulus, the
proconsul at Paphos, is converted. There for the first time we read, "Saul, who also is
called Paul" (Acts 13: 9).
The adoption of a Gentile name was a common practice among the Jews. In the N.T.
we have such Greek names as Philip and Alexander, and such Roman names as Crispus,
Justus and Niger. Double names, too, were frequently used. We remember
Belteshazzar-Daniel, Esther-Hadasa, and in the N.T. times, Herod-Agrippa and
Simon-Peter.
For us, however, the most important point is, not whether Saul was also called Paul
from birth, but that there is intentional association of the Apostle with his Roman convert
of Paphos (significantly converted while the Jew was blinded), which links him,