WHO WAS THE APOSTLE PAUL?

Paul [little] was an Israelite of the Tribe of Benjamin and an apostle of Jesus Christ. Ben'ja.min was Jacob's 12th son and the full brother of Joseph, and the only son born to Jacob in the land of Canaan, the other sons being born in Paddan-Aram. Rachel achieved the difficult chilbirth of her 2nd son, at the cost of her life, while on the way from Beth-El to Ephrath (Beth-Lehem). While dying, she called this son Ben-Oni, meaning "son of my sorrow;" but her bereaved husband thereafter named him Benjamin meaning "son of the right hand."
Paul was born, lived and died as a Jew. He writes that he was circumcised on the 8th day, was blameless before the law, followed the Pharisaic interpretation, and was zealously observant of the ancestral traditions.
He was born in Tarsus, a thriving cosmopolitan, urban gateway to the Easter Mediterranean, a vibrant intellectual center, and a transportation hub of strategic importance. There Paul learned his 1st language, Greek, was taught a trade, and receiving his schooling. Paul was a very learned man and a creative thinker. His training as a leatherworker, or tent-maker proved useful because he later in his life used it to support himself in his mission to the Gentiles.
Except for Jesus, no one influenced the development of early Christianity more than Paul. 13 of the 27 Books of the New  Testament are attributed to Paul, an eloquent testimony to the importance paul had for the early Jesus movement.
Ben'ja.min [son of the right hand] was Jacob's 12th son and the full brother of Joseph, and the only son born to Jacob in the land of Canaan, the other sons being born in Paddan-Aram. Rachel gave birth to Benjamin, her 2nd son, while on the way from Beth-El to Ephrath (Beth-Lehem), achieving the difficult childbirth at the cost of her life. While dying, she called this son Ben-Oni, meaning "son of my sorrow;" but her bereaved husband thereafter named him Benjamin "son of the right hand."
The 7 Letters which came from Paul's hand (1 Thessalonians, 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians, Philippians, Philemon, Galatians and Romans) serve as the primary sources for our knowledge about the apostle. Acts is nevertheless useful when judiciously used. The disputed Letters (2 Thessalonians, Colossians, and Ephesians) merit consideration, and the pseudo-epigraphic Letters (1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Hebrews) and later apocryphal literature assist with the history of Pauline interpretation.
The length and complexity of his letters, the sophistication of his arguments, his knowledge and familiarity with Jewish law and traditions, and his persuasive skills used to found churches and hold them together proves that he was a well educated man. Unfortunately, very little is known about the exact nature of his formal schooling.
Paul benefited from a rich informal education. The urban setting in which he grew up acquainted him with important literary and rhetorical skills. He owed his use of the diatribe (Romans 6:1, 15; 7:7; 11:1) and his knowledge of the law of nature (2:14-15) to Stoicism, and his anthropology and views of celibacy, conscience, and self-control were influenced by Hellenistic popular religion. His style of argumentation reflects a selective appropriation of hellenistic rhetoric. By contrast, his apocalypticism, his spiritualization of the sacrificial cult (Romans 12:1), his monotheism, and moral convictions came from Jewish sources, and his knowledge of Jesus' passion, death, resurrection, teaching, and the sacramental cult came from the Messiah-nists.
Paul's letters reveal how this fertile mind absorbed, synthesized, and interpreted these traditionss for his churches.