The author describes educational methods, educational ideals and literary education in the Hellenistic period based on an analysis of ancient ideas and concepts of teachers, pupils and students. Paul's education is discussed against this wide background and in view of his ancestry. Analyses of his letters (especially 1 Cor. 7 and 2 Cor. 10-13) prove Paul had great compositional skills, so it must be assumed that he had literary and rhetorical training.