“I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.”
'I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict manner of the Law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today' — Paul establishes his credentials: he is diaspora-born yet Jerusalem-educated under Gamaliel (the greatest rabbi of the era). His assertion of former zeal (cf. his persecution of Christians) demonstrates that his current faith is not a departure from Judaism but a fulfillment of it.
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