Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 22:3

"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, even as ye all are this day:" — Acts 22:3 (ASV)

The triad of birth, upbringing, and training was a conventional way in antiquity of describing a man’s youth. What Paul is here saying is, “I am a Jew, ‘born’ in Tarsus of Cilicia, ‘brought up’ in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and ‘instructed’ in the strict manner of the law of our fathers.” That is, his Jewishness cannot be disputed (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:22), and he insists that with such a background he was as zealous for all that Judaism stands for as any of those in the crowd before him (cf. Galatians 1:14).