[sword-devel] Saul/Paul

[Geoffrey W Hastings]

I believe all scripture is inspired by God, (God breathed).
It isn't a matter of any mans private interpretation.
Acts 13:9 You will see that the Holy Spirit used both names Saulos and
Paulos to refer to Saul/Paul. Before this verse only the name Saulos was
used. After this only the name Paulos is used except when Paul quotes the
Lords words to him leading up to his conversion prior to Acts 13:9.
Otherwise the Holy spirit chose to use Paulos throughout the rest of the
New Testament. Paul by inspiration of the Holy Spirit always refers to
himself as Paulos after this in all his epistles.
The translators who use Paul are doing just that, translating. It has
nothing to do with bias or an anti-semetic attempt to remove the Jewish
name of Saul. To use the name Saul would not be a translation but an
interpretation.
        I would differ from a previous statement by saying that a good
translation does not take into account the audience but rather the author
and His intent. It  should focus on as unbiased  of an attempt as
possible to "translate" the direct meaning from the original language to
the target language without changing the meaning. Some translations try
to do this in a more literal word for word translation (NASB etc..) while
others try to do this in a more thought for thought translation (NIV
etc...).  If the Holy Spirit meant to say only Saul He would have said
only Saul.
        The question then isn't "if" but, "Why did God choose to call him
Paulos?". 

On Mon, 17 Dec 2001 21:31:47 -0800 "Michael Rempel" <rempelm@nethere.net>
writes:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I see where he is called Paul but have failed to find a reference 
> to God
> > renaming him. The People's New Testament Commentary [handily 
> available for
> a
> > rather excellent Bible study program I know of :) ] says :
> >
> > Acts 13:913:9 #Ac 13:9    But Saul, (who also [is called] Paul). 
> From this
> > date he is the chief figure of the Acts. Barnabas, who had 
> hitherto been
> the
> > leader, falls behind. The origin of the name Paul is unknown. It 
> is a
> Roman
> > name, that of a great Roman family, and it is likely that the 
> great
> apostle
> > had two names, one Jewish, the other Gentile, a common thing 
> anciently.
> >
> I could elaborate further, but had Shaul stayed put, and remained 
> an
> adherent to Judaism he would certainly have become a member of the
> Sanhedrin, and likely would have been chief liason to the Roman 
> authority
> after his mentor. For this reason alone he would have needed a Greek 
> name,
> even if no other Jews had them.
> 
> > Which is the explanation I would tend to go for. However I have 
> heard the
> > 'renamed by God' approach from so many people that I am always 
> keen to see
> > people's perspective on it. I am beginning to think it is 'an 
> urban
> legend'
> > as such.
> 
> I have heard it too, it could be an anti-semetic reference, used to 
> try to
> remove Shaul or Saul as a legitemate name, but I could be mistaken. 
> It is
> often difficult for people to understand or accept that 
> anti-semitism makes
> it's way into scripture until they have a fuller catalog of shear 
> volume of
> translation 'errors' and traditions that clearly show a pattern once 
> it is
> seen in greater scope. The changes in tranditional observince times 
> and
> dates are clear examples, Sunday for Saturday as Sabath, Easter 
> instead of
> Passover, which is clearly wrong plus others.
> 
> If readers are concerned about me stating this, it is likely much 
> more
> profitable for you to investigate this yourself by asking Jewish
> authorities, and consulting Jewish books on the subject of 
> Christian
> anti-semitism, than it is for me to attempt to outline and defend 
> the myrid
> possible premises here. Suffice it to say that it is a major theme 
> of
> Judaism, to the extent that if a Jew accepts Jesus as Messiah, he 
> is
> considered dead. He is cut off from his family, friends and 
> ostracised for
> life. We are working to change this, but it is tremendously 
> difficult.
> 
> As one incredulous observer put it, Messianic Jews are a small bunch 
> of
> determined folk, set on revitalizing and transforming the two most 
> stubborn,
> stiff necked traditions in the history of mankind. Judaism, and
> Christianity, and we are trying to change both at once. It is a 
> daunting
> task for sure. But as scripture says, let iron sharpen iron. Our 
> task is
> merely to keep the two rubbing together. God gives each their new 
> edge in
> His good time. I just pray it be sooner rather than later.
> 
> Michael
> 
> 
> 
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