“Question & Answer”

Question:
What was Paul’s native place?
Answer:
Paul proudly identifies himself as “a Jew, from Tarsus, in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city” in Acts 21:39 ESV. This accounts for his dual citizenship. Citizens of Tarsus, whatever their race, had the right to be called Romans, and Pau stands on his rights as a “Roman citizen” {It reads in Acts 22:25-29 ESV: But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.” So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.} Tarsus was a center of learning, and perhaps Paul there acquired a knowledge of philosophy from local and itinerant Greek Scholar’s.