There is no evidence in the New Testament to show that he was ever married, and commentators have held that various passages in which he urges celibacy, show him to have remained single by choice. But this is only an inference. Others take the opposite view, pointing out that at the age of thirty, he was a member of the Sanhedrin (Acts 26:10); as such he "gave his vote" against the followers of Jesus. Being the youngest of the judges, he was appointed "judicial witness" of the execution of Stephen. According to Maimonides, and the Jerusalem Gemara, it was required of all who were to be made members of that Council that they should be married, and fathers of families, because such were supposed to be more inclined to merciful judgment. (See Life of St. Paul, by Conybeare and Howson, volume 1, chapter 2.)
