Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Circumcised the eighth day - This was the time that the law required the males to be circumcised; and we find, from Genesis 17:14, both in the Samaritan Pentateuch and in the Septuagint, though the clause is now lost out of the common Hebrew text, that the male child, which is not circumcised the eighth day, shall be cut off from among his people: this precept was literally observed in the case of St. Paul.
Of the stock of Israel - Regularly descended from the patriarch Jacob.
Of the tribe of Benjamin - The most favourite son of that patriarch and a tribe that did not revolt with Jeroboam, 1 Kings 12:21, nor pollute the worship of God by idolatry.
A Hebrew of the Hebrews - Though born in a heathen country, Tarsus, yet both my parents were Hebrews; nor has there ever been any strange blood mixed with that of our family.
Touching the law, a Pharisee - One that not only received the law and the prophets as coming from God; but belonged to that sect which, of all others, was most scrupulously attached to it.