at Jerusalem (Acts xxii), he told them that, though born in Tarsus, he had been '• brouglit up" {dvart^paix- fitvog) in Jerusalem. He must, therefore, have been yet a boy when he was removed, in all probability for the sake of his education, to the Holy City of his fa- thers. We may imagine him arriving there — perhaps at some age between ten and fifteen, already a Hellen- ist, speaking Greek and familiar with the Greek version of the Scriptures, possessing, besides the knowledge of his trade, the elements of Gentile learning — to be taught at Jerusalem "according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers." He learned, he says, " at the feet of Gamaliel." He who was to resist so stoutly the usurpations of the law had for his teacher one of the most eminent of all the doctors of the law. Gamaliel is supposed to be the person of that name who is cele- brated in the writings of the Talmudists as one of the seven teachers to whom the title " Kabbau" was given (Lightfoot, Horw Thhr. in Act. v, 34 ; Neander, AjJostol. Zeitalter, p. 62 ; Otho, Le.r. Rabhinico-Phil. s. v. Kabbi). Besides acquaintance with the Jewish law, and a sin- cere conviction of the supreme excellence of Judaism, Gamaliel appears to have possessed a singularly calm and judicious mind, and to have exercised a freedom of thought as well as pursued a range of study very unlike what was common among the party to which he be- longed (Acts V, 34-39; comp. Neander, /. c). How much the instructions and the example of such a teacher may have influenced the mind of Paul favorably we may imagine, but cannot aifirm. See Gamaliel. It is singular that on the occasion of his well-known in- tervention in the apostolical history the master's coun- sels of toleration are in marked contrast to the perse- cuting zeal so soon displayed by the pupil. The tem- per of Gamaliel himself was moderate and candid, and he was personally free from bigotry; but his teaching was that of the strictest of the Pharisees, and bore its natural fruit when lodged in the ardent and thorough- going nature of Saul. Other fruits, besides that of a zeal which persecuted the Church, may no doubt be re- ferred to the time when Saul sat at the feet of Gama- liel. A thorough training in the Scriptures and in the traditions of the elders under an acute and accomplished master must have done much to exercise the mind of Saul, and to make him feel at home in the subjects in which he was afterwards to be so intensely interested. Nor are we at all bound to suppose that, because his zeal for the law was strong enough to set him upon persecuting the believers in Jesus, he had therefore ex- perienced none of the doubts and struggles which, ac- cording to his subsequent testimony, it was the nature of the law to produce (see Rom. vii). On the contrary, we can scarcely imagine these as absent from the spir- itual life of Saul as he passed from boyhood to man- hood. Earnest persecutors are, oftener than not, men who have been tormented by inward struggles and per- plexities. The pupU of Gamaliel may have been crush- ing a multitude of conflicts in his own mind when he threw himself into the holy work of extirpating the new heresy. See Mokal Sense.
Paul is introduced to our notice by the sacred his- torian for the tirst time in connection with the martyr- dom of Stephen, in which transaction he was, if not an assistant, something more than a mere spectator. A.D. 29. He is described at this time (Acts vii, 68) as "a young man" (vtavinf) ; but this term was employed with so much latitude liy the Greeks that it is impos- ble from the mere use of it to determine whether the party to whom it was applied was under thirty, or be- tween that and f(jrty. Tlie iirobability is that I'aul must have reached the age of tliirt\' at least; for other- wise it is not likely that he would have shared the counsels of the chief priests, or been intrusted b}' them with the entire responsibility of executing their de- signs against the followers of Jesus, as we know was the case (Acts xxvi, 10, 12). For such a task he showed a painful aptitude, and discharged it with a zeal which
spared neither age nor sex (Acts xxvi, 10, 11). At that time the Church experienced the sudden expansion which was connected with the ordaining of the Seven appointed to serve tables, and with the special power and inspiration of Stephen. Among those who dis- puted with Stephen were some "of them of Cilicia." We naturally think of Saul as having been one of these, when we tind him afterwards keeping the clothes of those suborned witnesses who, according to the law (Deut. xvii, 7), were the tirst to cast stones at Stephen. " Saul," says the sacred writer, significantly, " was con- senting unto his death." The angelic glory that shone from Stephen's face, and the divine truth of his words, failing to subdue the spirit of religious hatred now burning in Saul's breast, must have embittered and ag- gravated its rage. Saul was passing through a terrible crisis for a man of his nature. But he was not one to be moved from his stern purpose by the native refinement and tenderness which he must have been stifling within him. He was the most unwearied and unrelenting of persecutors. " As for Saul, he made havoc of the Church, entering into every house {kuto. rorf o'Ikovc, house by house), and haling men and women, committed them to prison" (Acts viii, 3).