Acts 9:11. 21:39. Tarsus was a great and populous city, situated in a fruitful plain, through which flowed the river Cydnus. It was the birth-place of many distinguished Greek scholars. The inhabitants applied with great assiduity to science, and were considered, in the time of Christ, as the most cultivated of the Greeks, as their city was the most richly provided with literary institutions. Winer's Real. It was declared a free city by Augustus, and endowed with especial privileges. Dio Chrys. Tarsica post. 11. 36. Appian de Bel. Civ. L. V. p. 275, etc. Plin. Nat. Hist. V. 27. 22. Amm. Marcell. IV. 8.

Time of the Apostle's Birth and Conversion. According to an ancient but unauthorized account, Paul was born in the second year after Christ. This account is found in the Oratio de Petro et Paulo, Opp. Chrysost. Vol. VIII. The account however has nothing improbable in itself, since Paul is described as a young man at the time of his first persecution against the Christians, Acts 7: 57. In the epistle to Philemon,' says Lardner,' written about the year 62, the apostle calls himself, v. 9, "Paul the aged." This I think must lead us to suppose, that he was then sixty years old, or not much less.— He seems to have arrived at years of discretion when he was converted, for he appears to have been one of the principal agents in the persecution of believers after the death of Stephen; to have been entrusted by the Jewish rulers with authority to carry it on, Acts 26: 10, and to have had officers under him. All this shows the regard that was paid to him.' Works, Vol. V. pp. 486, 7. The supposition of Hemsen, Neander and Hug seems the most probable, that Paul's conversion occurred in A. D. 36. Usher and Pearson however suppose it to have occurred in 35; Basnage, Michaelis, Heinrichs, Köhler and Schott in 37; Eichhorn in 37 or 38; De Wette in 35 or 38; and others still in 31, 33, 34, 39, 40, 41, or 42.

Free citizenship of the Apostle. That Paul was a freeborn Roman citizen is certain. It is a conjecture of some that his ancestors obtained their free citizenship by their services to the empire during the civil wars with the Jews. But of this there is no evidence; see Grotius upon Acts 22: 28. Deyling endeavors to show that Paul's parents probably purchased the privilege of Roman freedom. But nothing can be certainly known about the mode in which they obtained it. The fact only is plain. See Acts 22: 28.

Trade of the Apostle. "What is commanded of a father towards his son? (asks a Talmudic writer.) To circumcise him, to redeem him, to teach him the law, to teach him a trade, etc. R. Judah saith he that teacheth not his son a trade, does as if he taught him to be a thief. Rabban Gamaliel saith, He that hath a trade in his hand, to what is he like? He is like to a vineyard that is fenced. So some of the great wise men of Israel had been cutters of wood. Rabban Jochanan Ben Zaccai, that was vice-president of the Sanhedrim, was a merchant four years, and then he fell to the study of the law." "Rabbi Judah, the great cabbalist, bore the name and trade of Hhajat, a shoemaker or tailor." Lightfoot, Vol. III. pp. 227, 228. VIII. p. 131.

According to (this) old Jewish custom which was well nigh as binding as law, Paul learned a trade, that of a maker of tent-cloth. Michaelis (Intro. Vol. II. p. 1338, Edit. 4,) represents Paul as a machine-maker. A passage in Julius Pollux led him into this singular mistake see Hug's Introduction, Part II. § 86. The Fathers supposed Paul to be a worker on leather, or a tent-maker. Chrysostom says, " By his trade he was employed upon skins." The fact that war-tents were made of leather, induced the old writers to suppose that Paul worked on this material. The probability is, that as a kind of shagged, rough-haired goat was very common in Cilicia, and as the hair of this animal was manufactured into a thick coarse cloth, and as this manufacture may have been very common in Paul's native province, he therefore selected it as his employment. The cloth thus manufactured was called cilicia. It was used for the covering of tents in war, and upon ships; also for shepherds' tents, especially in Syria and on the Euphrates. It is not to be supposed however that Paul never made tent-cloth except from materials procured in his native region. On this supposition, it is difficult to understand how he could have worked at his trade, in all places which he visited. He doubtless used other materials besides the xlixia for the manufacture of tent-cloth. That he sometimes worked at his trade after he became an apostle, is evident from Acts 18: 3, and probable from Acts 20: 34.

Learning of the Apostle. Strabo, Geogr. 1. XIV., says that "the inhabitants of Tarsus were so zealous in the pursuits of philosophy and the whole circle of Greek study, that they surpassed even the Athenians and Alexandrians, and indeed the citizens of every other place which can be mentioned, in which schools and lectures of philosophers and rhetoricians were established." Hence some have

But

supposed that the apostle must have been a very learned man. such an inference from such premises is unwarranted. First, the Hellenistic Jews kept themselves at a great distance from the Greeks. It is true that Philo and Josephus made considerable advancement in Grecian literature, but they were exceptions from the general rule. In the case of Paul, too, there is a peculiar improbability of any very intimate connection with the Greeks, as he belonged to a family of very rigid pharisaical principles. But secondly, Paul was sent away from the influences of Tarsus when he was between 10 and 13 years of age, according to Tholuck, and remained at Jerusalem until he was 30 or 33. He made great proficiency, however, in Jewish literature, and was distinguished for talents and eloquence. He was supposed at Lystra to be the god of oratory. "I regard Paul," says Hug, as a master of eloquence, and should even like to compare him in this respect with celebrated men of ancient times; e. g. with Isocrates whose letters to Demonicus and some of those to Nicocles bear considerable resemblance to Paul's in design and purport." "The simile 1 Cor. 12: 14 seq. resembles that of Menenius Agrippa, and is even more elegant and expressive."

Dionysius Longinus thus speaks of the eloquence of Paul: "The following men are the boast of all eloquence, and of Grecian genius, viz. Demosthenes, Lysias, Eschines, Hyperides, Isaeus, Anarchus or Demosthenes Crithinus, Isocrates, and Antiphon; to whom may be added Paul of Tarsus, who was the first, within my knowledge, that did not make use of demonstration," who made use of persuasion and pathos rather than argument. See Hug's Introduction, Fosdick's Trans. pp. 508-10.

Natural disposition of the Apostle. That he was by nature impetuous and intolerant is evident from Acts 7: 58. 8: 1-4. 9: 1. 11: 1, 2. 22: 4 seq. This makes his subsequent tenderness so much the more remarkable; see Acts 20: 17 seq. It is to be remembered, however, that he obtained his early information about the christian religion from the Jewish teachers; and even if he resided at Jerusalem during the Saviour's public ministry, he was probably kept secluded, like the other Jewish pupils, from intercourse with those friendly to Jesus, and must have formed erroneous conceptions of Christianity. This, in connection with his zeal for Judaism, is some apology for his persecuting spirit. His whole history shows that he was naturally independent, decided in his convictions and feelings, prone to extremes, fitted to be a leader in whatever cause he espoused, and capable, when sanctified, of rendering eminent services to the cause of humanity.-TR.

NOTES BY THE TRANSLATOR.

NOTE A. p. 31.

This treatise is taken from the Theologische Studien und Kritiken, Vol. VIII. pp. 364-393. It is understood to contain the substance of part of Tholuck's Introduction to the new edition, which he is now preparing, of his Comin. on the Romans. It will be found to be a condensed summary of the literature on Paul's early life and character, to be eminently suggestive (if this word may be allowed) in its style, and to afford rich material for inferences and reflections. Its phraseology is characteristic of its author. The remarks at the close on paronomasia will serve to account for Tholuck's frequent use of it in his own style. In his Preface to the new edition of his Sermons, page 27, he says: "The style of writing which we demand is the figurative, the sententious, the enigmatical. This style, in a greater or less degree, runs through all the writings of the Old and New Testaments." In conformity with such principles, the division of the first sermon translated

1 Paul says, 1 Cor. 9: 1. 2 Cor. 5: 16, that he had seen Christ. This expression, however, does not warrant the belief that he saw Christ before his crucifixion, but, according to Neander and Hemsen, may refer to the event mentioned in Acts 9: 3, etc.

in this volume is thus expressed in the original: “Und zwar bedürfen wir es erstens als einen Spiegel der Tugend, die uns fehlt; Zweitens als einen Riegel der Sande, die uns qualt; und drittens als ein Siegel des Gnadenweges, den wir erwählt." The translator has not endeavored to accommodate his version to these peculiarities of Tholuck, further than strict fidelity seemed to require. In some few instances he has endeavored to mitigate what he could not properly omit. Thus the first three lines on page 39 are expressed in the original in the following manner: "Hamann who in this identical way strikes upon every flint-stone of scripture with his spirit of fire (or fiery mind), so that sparks fly out." A few, and but a few similar changes occur in the translation of the sermons.

NOTE B, p. 33.

These three citations are, the first in Acts 17: 28, supposed by some to be from the Phaenomena of Aratus, fifth line, by others from the Hymn to Jupiter by Cleanthes, fourth line; the second in 1 Cor. 15: 33, supposed by some to be from Euripides, by others, as Jerome and Eusebius, to be from the Thais of Menander; the third in Titus 1: 12, supposed by Chrysostom and others to be from Epimenides, by Theodoret, and others from Callimachus. The passage in Titus is ascribed by Paul to one of the poets, ris, but that in Acts to more than one, Tives: this has led some to suppose that the apostle intended to refer to both poets, and perhaps also to Pindar, who has a similar expression. It would certainly be natural for him to quote from Aratus, as this poet was a Cilician; it would also be natural for him to quote from Cleanthes, because this poet had resided at Athens, and Paul was now addressing an Athenian audience. As both the passages are near the beginning of the two poems, they would both probably be well known to his hearers. It has been well remarked, however, by Henke, that the question whether Paul was or was not well versed in Greek literature, is not to be determined by his number of quotations from the Greek authors; but by the general structure of his style, by his mode of argumentation, and by the whole arrangement of his thoughts. See Henke's Trans. of Paley's Hor. Paul., Remarks, pp. 449–457. "In his mode of presenting subjects," says Neander, Hist. Plant. and Prog., "the Jewish element of his education manifestly shows itself predominant. His peculiar dialectics he acquired not in the Greek but in the Jewish school." See also Fosdick's Trans. of Hug's Introd. pp. 511, 512.

NOTE C, p. 34.

The feelings or at least the professions of the Jews in reference to the acquisition of foreign languages seem to have been different at different periods. Josephus says, Ant. B. XX. Ch. XI, "Those of my own nation freely acknowledge, that I far exceed them in the learning belonging to the Jews. I have also taken great pains to acquire the learning of the Greeks; and I understand the elements of the Greek language, although I have so long

been accustomed to speak the Jewish, that I cannot pronounce Greek with sufficient exactness. For my own countrymen do not encourage those that learn the languages of many nations, because they look upon this sort of accomplishment as common not only to freemen but also to slaves, such as please to acquire it. But they pronounce him to be a wise man who is fully acquainted with our laws, and is able to interpret their meaning," etc. On the other hand, some of the Talmudists abounded in professions of skill in foreign tongues. Rabbi Jochanan, in the Gemara Babylonia, says: "None are chosen into the Sanhedrim, but men of uncommon stature, of wisdom, of beautiful countenance; old mễn skilled in magic and legerdemain, who are also acquainted with seventy different languages." The same is also frequently repeated in the Gemara. Maimonides says: "None were admitted, either into the superior or inferior Sanhedrim (by which is meant the Sanhedrim consisting of seventy-one or two members, and that of twentythree), but wise men distinguished for their acquaintance with legal discipline, men of various science, and by no means ignorant of the arts, of medicine, arithmetic, the motions of the heavenly bodies; men of skill in legerdemain, divination also and magic, etc., so that they might be prepared for passing judgment on all the subjects usually brought before them." The phrase, seventy languages, was probably intended to designate all the languages which could have been of use to the Council in determining causes which were submitted to their decision. Of what use a knowledge of foreign languages would be in determining forensic cases, may be seen by reflecting on the number of men, speaking different tongues, who visited Jerusalem. See Acts 2: 8 seq. See on the general subject, Selden de Synedriis Vet. Ebr. Lib. II. Cap. 9.

NOTE D, p. 35.

"You see, quantas,

The following is Winer's Comment on Gal, 6: 11. i. e. quam longas literas, (how long a letter, see Acts 28: 21; Xenoph. Hell. 1. 1. 15), 1 have written to you; how copiously I have written. So Grotius, Callixtus, Baumgarten, Koppe, Schott, Stolz. His reason for calling this letter a long letter, (whereas it is considerably shorter than the epistles to the Romans and Corinthians), is to be explained by the circumstance added, that he wrote it with his own hand. Paul had not much skill and practice in chirography. On this account he dictated most of his epistles; (merely adding his signature with a salutation or blessing; see Rom. 16: 22. 1 Cor. 16: 21. 2 Thess. 3: 17, 18. Col. 4: 18. See also a consideration of the supposed effect of writing by amanuenses on the apostle's style, in Henke's Transl. of Paley's Hor. Paul. pp. 419-421.-TR.) Chrysostom has well remarked, Paul gives us to understand, in this passage, nothing else than that he wrote the whole epistle; and this was a special sign of its genuineness. In other epistles, however, he dictated, and an amanuensis wrote.' The sense of the passage is, therefore, You will wonder at this long letter written by my own hand; since I am not easily persuaded, in