What did St. Paul look like?

Answer 1

The name Paul is not a name at all. It is a Greek word meaning "small or little". His name was Saul. He was short bald and bow-legged His enemies gave him the name Paul in an attempt to defame him. He was a short man with a poor speaking voice and poor hand writing. This demeaning name, "PAUL', was the thorn in the flesh he spoke of. As for the description of Paul being short, bald and bow-legged, admittedly the source for this is somewhat questionable. It is from the Epistle of Paul and Thecla, a spurous epistle written about the second century A.D.

Here is the related verse Ch 1 vs 7: At length they saw a man coming ( namely Paul ), of a small stature with meeting eyebrows, bald (or shaved ) head, bow-legged, strongly built, hollow-eyed, with a large crooked nose; he was full of grace, for sometimes he appeared as a man, sometimes he had the countenance of an angel..."

Even though the above verses are from a spurios Epistle, it must be remembered that for a while it was accepted as genuine. This was written within 100 yrs of Pauls death. The memory of Pauls appearance was still fresh in the minds of the early church. This Epistle couldn't have been considered truthful by the early church if it wasn't accurate in Pauls discription. For more http://www.losthistorypublishing.com