Acts 22:3Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

For one so instructed in the law could not suddenly have changed by himself. If he had been one of ordinary men, one might think so. But if he belongs among those most devoted to the law, one cannot admit that he changed simply, without some powerful cause moving him. Yet someone might say, "It is nothing great that you were educated here. Could you not have been here for trade, or for some other reason?" Therefore, lest they think this, he adds: "at the feet of Gamaliel." He did not simply say, "with Gamaliel," but "at his feet." By this he expresses his constancy, diligence, zeal in listening, and great reverence for that man. "Carefully instructed in the ancestral law." Not simply in the law, but he adds, "in the ancestral law." He shows that he had long been such, and that he did not know the law superficially. This seems to have been said in their favor, but it was against them, if he knew the law and left it. Then, lest someone object, "What profit is it that you know the law exactly, if you do not defend and honor it?" he says, "zealous." That is, he not only knew it, but was greatly zealous for it. Having said much about himself, he then makes his speech common to them, adding, "as all of you are today." By this he shows that they acted not by human reasoning, but by divine zeal. He says this to win their goodwill, prepare their mind, and keep them at the point where there was as yet no harm. He softens his speech: "zealous for God, as all of you are today." That is, equal to you. But by his deeds he shows that he was above them.

Since Paul had already spoken much in praise of himself, he makes the word common to all: "as all of you are today." Lest they think this was a fiction, Paul shows that he did everything out of love and zeal, not out of vainglory.

In the Epistle to Titus, after briefly depicting the virtues of a bishop, the Apostle also mentions knowledge of Scripture. He says that a bishop must be "holding fast the faithful word according to the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to rebuke those who contradict" (Tit 1:9).

Certainly his early acquaintance with the Greek language and with the life of the Greeks did not remain without influence in forming him as a teacher of the Greeks, or Gentiles.

Yet the few passages from Greek poets in his Athenian speech and in his epistles do not prove that he owed his acquaintance with Greek literature to his education. In 1 Cor. 15:33 he quotes Menander. In Tit. 1:12 he quotes Epimenides. In Acts 17:28 he quotes Aratus.

The first two sayings may have circulated among the people as proverbs. The last is noteworthy for its exactness. Even γάρ is retained: τού γάρ καί γένος έσμέν.

But Aratus was a Cilician by birth, and therefore Paul's countryman. Consequently his poems could have been known to Paul even from school.

Moreover, the apostle himself says that he was educated not in Tarsus, but in Jerusalem (Acts 22:3, άνατεϑραμμένος). After rabbinic education, a zealous Pharisee such as Paul was before his conversion would not have allowed himself to enter such close communion with Gentiles as to study in their academy.

His father, a Pharisee, evidently intended him for the rabbinate. For this reason he was sent to Jerusalem, so that in a Pharisaic school he might become a learned interpreter of Scripture and tradition.

He was educated under Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law from the Pharisaic sect, who, according to Acts 5:34, was honored by all the people. In agreement with this, the Talmud says: From the time Gamaliel died, the glory of the Law also ceased.

Education in these schools consisted in the interpretation of Holy Scripture. Josephus writes that the Jews place all wisdom in this: first, clearly to understand their laws, τά νόμιμα σαφώς έπιστάμευοι; and second, to interpret the power of the sacred books, τήν τών ίερών γραμμάτων δύναμιν έρμηνεύσαί.

According to the Talmud, in Pirke Avoth, ch. 5, 521, the study of the Law began at five years old. At ten began the study of the Mishnah. From thirteen, the youth was already obligated to the strict fulfillment of the Law.

Paul's obligatory study of the Law can be seen from the many passages from Scripture cited in his epistles. Up to fifty passages are cited from memory, that is, without exactly retaining the words of the translation.

Paul's teacher was distinguished by moderation in his view of those who thought differently (Acts 5:34). He was even acquainted with Greek literature.

It is written in the Talmud that he allowed himself to go even into pagan baths adorned with statues of gods. When this aroused astonishment among pagans, Gamaliel answered: the bath was built before the statues.

The bath was not made for the goddess, Venus, but the goddess was placed for the adornment of the bath. Such freedom of spirit could have had a favorable influence on his disciples.

But a young man with a fiery and powerful soul, such as Paul was, would take up nothing except with all ardor. His heart was already inclined toward the most immoderate zeal, and Pharisaism gave much food to such a direction.

From the personal qualities of his character, as well as from his own testimonies, we may conclude that he strove to surpass all his contemporaries in legal righteousness, as fervent Pharisees understood it.

This too was not without the intention of Providence. The more zealously he strove for holiness, the more he had to struggle with the unruly impulses of his fiery and powerful nature.

Thus he had more occasions to prove that there is evil in man which cannot be tamed by the bridle of the Law alone. A man may know the good, yet not always be able to do the good.

Even with a good disposition, he is involuntarily carried from good to evil by the power of impulses opposed to God. Paul surely would never have described such a state so vividly and exactly in Romans ch. 7 if he had not known it by his own experience.

It was also very important for Paul that he came to Christianity from such a sect. In it every precaution was used, and every barrier was erected against the power of desires and passions.

They tried by every means to compel themselves toward the good. Having tested all these measures on himself and learned their weakness, he could speak from his own experience.

As the representative of all men with zealous moral aspirations, he could testify how deeply the sense of the need for redemption lies in human nature. After this, again from his own experience, he could define the relation between inner freedom flowing from faith in redemption and bondage under the Law.

Although Paul was a faithful and zealous disciple of Gamaliel, one cannot conclude from this that Gamaliel's spirit of moderation toward Christianity passed over into him.

A disciple, especially one with such a strong and original spirit, submits to the spiritual influence of his teacher only to the degree that it corresponds to his own disposition of spirit.

The inflexibility of his character, the fire of his nature, and the fire of youth made him a strong zealot, inclined to persecution, against everything that contradicted the system he regarded as holy.

Tarsus stood on the banks of the Cydnus, in a narrow fertile plain between the Mediterranean Sea and the snowy heights of Taurus. It was a great commercial and industrial city, a depot for goods traded between the East and Asia Minor. The special industry of its inhabitants was the making of woolen fabrics, carpets, and tents from goat's hair, which was famous throughout the East. Saul was trained by his parents for this craft, specifically as a tentmaker. This does not mean that his parents were poor, or unable to prepare their son for some higher social position. It was simply the common Jewish custom to train children in some craft. Thus they could earn their bread amid all the changes of life. Saul indeed had more than once to remember his parents with gratitude, when he had recourse to his craft for sustenance. Having taught their son a craft, his parents then gave him a good general education. Since Greek was the common language in a great city such as Tarsus, Saul knew it perfectly. He was so acquainted with Greek literature that he freely quoted Greek poets (Acts 18:28; Tit 1:2). He even deeply understood the very spirit of Hellenism. This high education made him especially fit as an instrument for the purpose to which Providence was preparing him, to be the "Apostle of the nations." But this was only one side of his education. After giving their son a general classical education, his parents took special care to give him a higher Jewish education. For this purpose Saul was sent to Jerusalem, where various higher schools flourished. There he was "brought up at the feet of Gamaliel," the most famous teacher of the law of his time. Gamaliel was distinguished not only by the depth and breadth of his learning, but also by a remarkable spirit of tolerance toward those whose views differed from established opinions. In the school of this great teacher Saul was "carefully instructed in the ancestral law" and was zealous for God. All this broad education, joined to lofty natural gifts, made Saul a very prominent person. Already in Jerusalem, among the Pharisees, he enjoyed great renown. This was not only for his learning, but because he "lived as a Pharisee according to the strictest teaching in the Jewish confession" (Acts 26:5).

Therefore it is unjust to say that I am its enemy and teach in hostility to it. Moreover, I was brought up from childhood, for this is the sense of the Greek word, in this city, that is, in Jerusalem, the center of Jewish nationality. Therefore, even if by birth in the dispersion I had not been strongly attached to my people, my upbringing in this city would have developed that attachment to my native people. "Brought up at the feet of Gamaliel": not under some unknown rabbi, but under the most famous Pharisaic teacher. This is the same Gamaliel who earlier gave the Sanhedrin wise counsel not to persecute the Christians (Acts 5:34 ff.). At the time when Paul spoke this address, he was probably no longer alive. The expression "at the feet of Gamaliel" is explained from the custom in the Jewish schools of that time. The rabbi and teacher sat in an elevated place, while the disciples sat near him on the floor or on benches. Later this expression came to mean in general the reverent relation of a disciple to an honored teacher (cf. note on Lk 10:39). Speaking thus, Paul "expresses his constancy, care, zeal in listening, and great reverence for this man" (Chrysostom; cf. Theophylact). "Carefully instructed," as the very name of Gamaliel already guarantees, "in the ancestral law." That is, in the law handed down to us from the fathers as holy, our native national law, the law of Moses. The very name of Gamaliel again guarantees the strictness of his Jewish Orthodox instruction in the law. It likewise guarantees that this study had a Pharisaic character and direction. As a result of such upbringing and instruction, Paul was zealous for God, for the glory of God. "As all of you are today," the Apostle adds. I was then what you are now. You are now, in your direction, in the same state in which I was then. All this together shows that I could not and cannot be what my accusers present me to be.

That many then acted precisely from unreasonable zeal is clear from the fact that they listened with particular attention to the Apostle's speech in their native language. "See," says Saint John Chrysostom, "with what meekness he speaks. And this too is the greatest proof of his innocence, that he is so ready to defend himself and resolves by speech to withstand the crowd of Jews. Look at the prudence of this man. The place also greatly favored him, since he spoke from a height, as did the fact that he was bound. What can be compared with this sight, when Paul spoke while bound with two chains? How was he not disturbed? How was he not confounded, when so great a multitude rose against him and the commander stood by? But first he allowed their fury to subside, and then he began to speak. And see how wisely. First, he wins them by their native language, then by meekness. And see how free his words are from flattery. He did not say, 'lords' or 'masters,' but 'brethren,' which especially could please them. It was as though he said: I am not a stranger to you, nor am I against you. He did not say, 'Hear an instruction' or 'a speech,' but 'a defense.' He presents himself as one under judgment. Having said much about himself, he then adds, 'as all of you are today.' By this he shows that they acted not according to human reasoning, but according to divine zeal. He says this to win their goodwill, prepare their mind, and keep them at the point where there was as yet no harm."