| Note | Date | Event | Reference(s) |
| a. | c AD 5? | Born in Tarsus of Cilicia; a Benjaminite and a Roman citizen by birthright. | Acts 22:3 Philippians 3:5 Acts 22:28 |
| Brought up in Jerusalem, probably from the age of 13, the normal age at which young men attached themselves to Rabbis for study. | Acts 22:3; 26:4-5 | ||
| b. | Trained as a Pharisee under Gamaliel. | Acts 22:3; Philippians 3:5 | |
| c AD 32 | As a “young man”, witnesses the martyrdom of Stephen. | Acts 7:58; 8:1 | |
| c AD 32 – 33 | Persecuted the church. | Acts 8:3; 22:4-5; 26:9-11; Philippians 3:6 |
a. The date of Paul’s birth is not known and estimates range from 10 BC to AD 10. Given that he is described as a “young man” at the time of Stephen’s martyrdom in AD 32, and was probably not yet a member of the Sanhedrin, if, indeed, he ever was, my dating at AD 5 is something of an educated ‘guesstimate’.
b. “Gamaliel was a member of the Sanhedrin, the high council of Jews in Jerusalem, and served as president of the Sanhedrin during the reigns of the Roman emperors Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius…The learning of Gamaliel was so eminent and his influence so great that he is one of only seven Jewish scholars who have been honored by the title “Rabban.” He was called the “Beauty of the Law.” The Talmud even says that “since Rabban Gamaliel died, the glory of the Law has ceased.” (Elwell, W A Gamaliel in Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol 1) Baker Book House, 1988, p838)