In the New Testament, several characters have had their names changed. Simon became Peter, Joseph became Barnabas, John is called Mark,... These changes can be due to personal choices or imposed by circumstances. Thus, it was Jesus who changed Simon's name, and it was the Apostles who gave to Joseph the name of Barnabas. But what about Saul of Tarsus? And what did changing his name mean to his life and ministry?
It is in Acts 7:58 that the name of Saul appears for the first time in the book of the Acts of the Apostles. It was at the time of the stoning of Stephen. Two chapters later, Saul is said to have approved of Stephen's murder. During his conversion on the road to Damascus, in chapter nine, Jesus called him Saul: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? And he told Ananias of Damascus to go and lay hands on "Saul of Tarsus" to get his sight. And in the following chapters of the book of Acts, it is always the name of Saul that is used.
But, from chapter thirteen, something happened. While five prophets and teachers were gathered in Antioch, the Holy Spirit commanded that “Barnabas and Saul” be set apart for the work to which he had called them. And the two men, accompanied by John, embarked for Cyprus on their first missionary journey. They preached the gospel there, and their preaching was accompanied by many wonders and miracles. The Proconsul of the island, Sergius Paulus (Serge Paul), having heard of the miracles they were performing, called them to hear them about the word of God, because he is described as an intelligent man. It is curiously at this very moment that we learn that Saul was also called Paul, the same name as the Proconsul himself. Luke, the author of the book of Acts did not tell us who made this name change and why. But, the rest of the story leads us to think that this change had something to do with authority. Yet Paul's very name means something like Humble or Modest. Was it he himself who decided to change his name? Was it also he who chose Paul's? Luke did not tell us.
On another level, whereas until then, Barnabas was mentioned first, including by the Holy Spirit (Barnabas and Saul), which implied that Barnabas was the "head" of the mission, we notice that when leaving Cyprus, it is exclusively "Paul" who is quoted by Luke. Paul had taken the first place, causing John to leave and return to Jerusalem.
After this episode, we will notice that it is always Paul who is put forward. Whereas Luke had previously used the expression “Barnabas and Saul”, henceforth he speaks of “Paul and Barnabas”. Not only does he endorse Saul's name change, but he also confirms that Paul now had the leading role, thus reporting in his own way, the reality of what had happened on the ground.
In Lystra, while the two Apostles were preaching the Gospel, Paul performed a miracle that amazed the people. The latter decided to call Barnabas Jupiter and Paul Mercury, thus putting Barnabas first, when it was mainly Paul who spoke. And curiously, at this time, Luke speaks of the Apostles “Barnabas and Paul”. And it was Barnabas who took the lead back to Antioch, after Paul was stoned, narrowly escaping death.
Back in Antioch, a controversy broke out about the practice of Circumcision (chapter 15). On this occasion, Luke restores the leading role to Paul, and the two missionaries decided to go to Jerusalem to bring the question of the observation of the tradition of Moses before the Apostles to settle it. This prompted the organization of the First Council of Jerusalem. We will return in a future article to the question of Circumcision.
After debate in the Assembly of Jerusalem where the Apostles and Elders participated, it was decided to write to the brothers of Anticoch a letter of recommendation and exhortation. Said letter would be entrusted, as Peter had specified, to "our beloved Barnabas and Paul", accompanied by Jude and Silas. For Peter, it was always Barnabas who ran the business.
But back in Antioch, things seem to have been reversed again, since Luke speaks again of “Paul and Barnabas”, thus putting Paul back at the head of the mission in place of Barnabas who had just been restored to his rank by Peter. It is moreover Paul who will take the initiative to suggest to Barnabas to begin a second missionary journey. And on this occasion, a disagreement arose between the two about "John nicknamed Mark", him again! And Barnabas, no longer able to bear his authority being questioned, decided to separate himself from Paul.
The Holy Spirit took care to have the former Saul, now Paul, accompanied by a kind of understudy, in the person of Silas. For indeed, Silas is none other than the name Saul in Latin. We could say, in a way, that Paul was accompanied by Saul. It was as if to remind the one who was to become the Apostle of the Gentiles that the Lord did not forget where he came from. Later in his journey, Paul had to learn to trust his own wisdom less and listen to the Holy Spirit more. This is what happened to him twice in Acts 16, when he wanted to go and preach the Word in Asia and then in Bithynia and he was prevented from doing so by the Spirit of God. The latter directed him to Macedonia. Crucifying one’s own flesh is not easy and Paul was battling against himself to let the Spirit take over. Which made him grow in maturity as we will see in the following events.
Saul, after his conversion, had been taken to safety in Tarsus, his native city, to protect him from those who wanted his life, both in Damascus and in Jerusalem. It was Barnabas who had gone to get him there to install him in Antioch with him, and certainly to teach him about the things of Christ. For a dozen years Barnabas was Saul's montor. And it was logical that the Holy Spirit, and later Peter, placed the mentor at the head of the mission. Saul, who was all fired up, could no longer bear to play second fiddle and took advantage of the first opportunity to take the lead.
The reversal of positions between « Barnabas and Saul », becoming « Paul and Barnabas », coincided with Saul's change of name to Paul. I leave it to theologians to explain this to us. But it must be recognized that a careful examination of the life and ministry of Paul shows that he liked to put himself forward, not even hesitating to confront Peter in public, as he himself recounts in his Epistle to the Galatians. Which caused him a lot of problems. He was constantly the target of the enemies of the Gospel and he, of all, suffered the most at the hands of Jews and Gentiles, at the hands of adversaries and false brethren. Didn't Jesus tell him that he was going to suffer because of His name? It took him a long time to recognize that in reality he was the least of all the Apostles, as he confessed to the Corinthians.
Thus, behind each word or each name in the Scriptures, there are hidden spiritual realities which very often escape us. The one we consider a giant of faith was actually a man like any other. With its qualities and its defects. Flaws that he had to fight throughout his life by crucifying the old man to allow the new man to rise in Christ. In the end, Saul-Paul was not an extraordinary man, but an ordinary man who lived and did extraordinary things. It was this awareness that allowed him to become so powerful, because it was in his weakness that he became strong.
Nabil ZIANI is a journalist and author specialized in North-African Christian history and living in France. He is looking for a publisher for his last book on Simon of Cyrene.