Tarsus
A place in the Bible
A city of Cilicia, in what is today southern Turkey. Saul, who later became St. Paul, was born there.
What happened here
- St. Paul: he himself said he was a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, and that he studied in Jerusalem under the teacher Gamaliel.
- The man from Tarsus: the Lord asked Ananias to go to the street called Straight in Damascus and look for a man from Tarsus named Saul.
- Barnabas: he went to Tarsus to look for Saul and brought him to Antioch.
Today
Today it is the city of Tarsus, in Turkey.
Where it appears in the Bible
Acts 22:3; Acts 9:11; Acts 11:25
What the Bible says
Acts 22:3
And he saith: I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the truth of the law of the fathers, zealous for the law, as also all you are this day:
Acts 9:11
And the Lord said to him: Arise, and go into the street that is called Stait, and seek in the house of Judas, one named Saul of Tarsus. For behold he prayeth.
Acts 11:25
And Barnabas went to Tarsus to seek Saul: whom, when he had found, he brought to Antioch.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Source: Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “Tarsus”; Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), “Tarsus”