Q. Why was Saul’s name changed to Paul?

A. His name wasn’t “changed” to Paul. He had that name because he was a Roman citizen. Some think that his name was changed because he was a “Christian” and he was separating from his Jewish roots, but Paul never said that and in fact never disregarded his Jewishness or the keeping of the Torah so it wasn’t for that reason. Yeshua referred to him by his Jewish name “Shaul”.The plain fact of the matter is he had several names which was not unusual. He had his Jewish name and a Roman name “Paulus” and it was a common name. In Acts 13.7 we read about a proconsul of Rome called Sergius Paulus. The historian Josephus was a Jewish general in the 1st century revolt against Rome. His Jewish name was Matatiyahu (Matthew) but later was captured by the Romans and eventually was known as Flavius Josephus. So the simplest answer is he had two names. His Jewish name was Shaul (Saul) and also had a Roman name Paulus (Paul). He was known by Paul because of his ministry in the Roman world and it also revealed his Roman citizenship but he also went by Shaul. There is an allusion to this name in the story of Shaul and David in 1 Sam 26.17-18 and Acts 9.4. King Shaul (Saul) was from the tribe of Benjamin and he was persecuting David from the tribe of Judah. In Acts 9.4 another Shaul from the tribe of Benjamin is persecuting a descendant of David from the tribe of Judah. That is why Yeshua calls him by his Jewish name and asks Shaul, like David did in 1 Sam 26 “Why are you persecuting me?” Names mean things and there is always something to learn. However there is no truth to the teaching that Shaul’s name was changed to Paul to illustrate his rejection of the Torah or that he was starting a new religion.