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Verse 9. Saul, who also is-Paul] This is the first time the name Paul occurs, and the last time in which this apostle is called Saul, as his common or general name.

Saul, lwa� Shaul, was the name of the first Israelitish king, and signifies asked, sought; from la� shaal, he asked, inquired, &c.

Paul, Paulus, if derived from the Latin, signifies little, dwarfish: but if from the Hebrew, alp pala, it signifies extraordinary, wonderful; and this appears to have been the derivation assigned to it by St. Jerome, com. in Ep. Pauli ad Philem., who translates it mirabilis, wonderful, and Hesychius must have had the same in view, for he defines it thus, paulov, qaumastov, h eklektov, sumboulov, Paul, wonderful, or elect, counsellor. The lexicographer had probably here in view, Isaiah ix. 6: his name shall be called ( �y[wy alp pel� yo�ts) wonderful, counsellor; which he might corrupt into paulus, and thus make his qaumastov sumboulov out of it by way of explanation. Triller, however, supposes the sumboulov of Hesychius to be corrupted from sundoulov fellow servant, which is a term not unfrequently applied to apostles, &c., in the New Testament, who are called the servants of God; and it is used by Paul himself, Col. i. 7; iv. 7. The Latin original is the most probable. It is well known that the Jews in the apostolic age had frequently two names, one Hebrew, the other Greek or Roman. Saul was born of Jewish parents, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; he had therefore his first name from that language, lwa� Shaul, asked or begged; as it is possible he might have been a child for whom his parents had addressed their fervent petitions to God.

The case of Samuel is one in point. See 1 Sam. i. 9-18. As he was born in Tarsus, in Cilicia, he was consequently born a free Roman citizen; and hence his parents would naturally give him, for cognomen, some name borrowed from the Latin tongue, and Paulus, which signifies little, might indicate that he was at his birth a small or diminutive child. And it is very likely that he was low in stature all his days; and that it is to this he refers himself, 2 Cor. x. 10, for his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible. If he were small in stature, his voice would be naturally low and feeble; and the Greeks. who were fond of a thundering eloquence, would despise him on this very account.

Filled with the Holy Ghost] Therefore the sentence he pronounced was not from himself, but from God. And indeed, had he not been under a Divine influence, it is not likely he would have ventured thus to accost this sorcerer in the presence of the governor, who, no doubt, had greatly admired him.

Ver. 9. Then Saul (who also is called Paul) , etc.] He was called by both these names; as he was a Jew by birth, his parents called him Saul, that was his Jewish name, and by which he went among the Jews; and as he was a citizen of a Roman city, Tarsus in Cilicia, he went among the Romans, or Gentiles, by the name of Paul, a Roman name; and it was usual with the Jews to be called after this manner, that is, to have one name among themselves, and another among the Gentiles: it is a rule with them f637 , that �the Israelites out of the land, their names are as the names of the Gentiles;� yea, their names differed in Judea and Galilee; a woman went by one name in Judea, and another in Galilee f638 : and it is observable, that Luke calls the apostle by his Jewish name Saul, whilst he was among the Jews, and only preached among them; but now he is got among the Gentiles, and was about to appear openly to be their apostle, he all along hereafter calls him by his Gentile name Paul: though some think his name was changed upon his conversion, as it was usual with Jewish penitents to do; when a man repented of his sin, he changed his name (says Maimonides) f639 , �as if he should say, I am another, and not the man that did those (evil) works.�

So when Maachah, Asa�s mother, or rather grandmother, was converted, or became right, she changed her name into Michaihu, the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah; that her former name might not be remembered, lest it should be a reproach unto her f640 : though others think, that the apostle was so called, from Sergius Paulus the deputy, whose conversion he was the instrument of; and whose family might choose to call him so, because of the nearness in sound between the two names: others think he had his name Paul, or Paulus, from the smallness of his stature and voice, to which he seems to have some respect, in ( 2 Corinthians 10:10) and there is one Samuel the little, which the Jewish doctors often speak of, and who by some is taken to be the same with the Apostle Paul. This name is by Jerom, or Origen f641 , interpreted �wonderful�, as if it came from the Hebrew word alp �pala�; and others derive it from l[p , �paul�, which signifies to work; and a laborious worker the apostle was, and a workman also which needed not to be ashamed; but since it is certain that Saul was his Hebrew name, it is most likely that this was a Gentile one, and not of Hebrew derivation: the first account of these names, and the reason of them, seems to be the best: now of him it is said, that he was filled with the Holy Ghost ; which does not design the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost in general, with which he was always filled, and thereby qualified for his work as an apostle; but in particular, that he had by the Spirit, not only a discerning of the wickedness of this man, but of the will of God, to make him at this time a public example of divine wrath and vengeance, for his opposition to the Gospel: wherefore he set his eyes on him ; very earnestly, thereby expressing an abhorrence of him, and indignation against him, and as it were threatening him with some sore judgment to fall upon him.