Simon the Zealot

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St. Simon redirects here. See also Saint-Simon.

Saint Simon the Zealot

Eastern Orthodox icon of the Apostle Simon

Apostle and Martyr

Born Cana or Canaan

~107[1], place of death disputed. Possibly Pella,

Died
Armenia; Suanir, Persia; Edessa

Venerated Roman Catholic Church; Eastern Orthodox

 Church; Coptic Church; Oriental Orthodox
in Churches, Eastern Catholic Churches; Anglican
Church; Lutheran Church.

Major relics claimed by many places, including

shrine Toulouse; Saint Peter's Basilica[2]

October 28 (Roman Catholic Church); May 10

Feast
(Coptic Church)

boat; cross and saw; fish (or two fish); lance; man
Attributes
being sawn in two longitudinally; oar[2]

Patronage curriers; sawyers; tanners[3]

The apostle called Simon Zelotes, Simon the Zealot, in Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13; and Simon
Kananaios ("Simon" signifying ‫" שמעון‬hearkening; listening", Standard Hebrew Šimʿon,
Tiberian Hebrew Šimʿôn), was one of the most obscure among the apostles of Jesus. Little is
recorded of him aside from his name, few pseudepigraphical writings were connected to him (but
see below), and Jerome does not include him in De viris illustribus.
The name of Simon occurs in all the passages of the synoptic gospels and Acts that give a list of
apostles, without further details.
Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip,
and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon
who was called the Zealot, and Judas ["the son" is interpolated] of James, and Judas
Iscariot, who became a traitor. (Luke 6:12-16, RSV)
To distinguish him from Simon Peter, he is called Kananaios, or Kananites (Matthew 10:4; Mark
3:18), and in the list of apostles in Luke 6:15, repeated in Acts 1:13, Zelotes, the "Zealot". Both
titles derive from the Hebrew word qana, meaning The Zealous, though Jerome and others
mistook the word to signify the apostle was from the town of Cana (in which case his epithet
would have been "Kanaios") or even from the region of Canaan. As such, the translation of the
word as "the Cananite" or "the Canaanite" is purely traditional and without contemporary extra-
canonic parallel.
Robert Eisenman has pointed out[4] contemporary talmudic references to Zealots as kanna'im
"but not really as a group — rather as avenging priests in the Temple". (Eisenman's broader
conclusions, that the zealot element in the original apostle group was disguised and overwritten
to make it support the assimilative Pauline Christianity of the Gentiles is more controversial.)
In the canonic New Testament, Simon the Zealot is never identified with Simon the brother of
Jesus mentioned in Gospel of Mark 6:3 :
"Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas
and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?"" —New International Version.
It is believed often that this is Simeon of Jerusalem, since he was born in Galilee.

Contents
[hide]
 • 1 In later tradition
• 2 Sainthood
• 3 Notes
• 4 External links

[edit] In later tradition

Saint Simon the Zealot with his attribute of a saw

St. Isidore of Seville drew together the accumulated anecdotes of St. Simon in De Vita et Morte;
the fully-developed aura of legend is presented in the Legenda Aurea (ca 1260).[5]
In later tradition, Simon is often associated with St. Jude as a proselytizing team; they share their
feast day on 28 October. The most widespread tradition is that after evangelizing in Egypt,
Simon joined Jude in Persia and Armenia, where both were martyred. This version is the one
found in the Golden Legend.
Later traditions expand on an independent personality for Simon and speculate about his fate.
One tradition states that he travelled in the Middle East and Africa. Christian Ethiopians claim
that he was crucified in Samaria, while Justus Lipsius writes that he was sawn in half at Suanir,
Persia.[2] However, Moses of Chorene writes that he was martyred at Weriosphora in Caucasian
Iberia.[2] Tradition also claims he died peacefully at Edessa.[6] Another tradition says he visited
Britain -- possibly Glastonbury -- and was martyred in modern-day Lincolnshire. Another,
doubtless inspired by his title "the Zealot", states that he was involved in a Jewish revolt against
the Romans, which was brutally suppressed.
The 2nd century Epistle of the Apostles (Epistula Apostolorum)[7], a polemic against gnostics,
lists him among the apostles purported to be writing the letter (who include Thomas) as Judas
Zelotes and certain Old Latin translations of the Gospel of Matthew substitute "Judas the Zealot"
for Thaddeus/Lebbaeus in Matthew 10:3. To some readers, this suggests that he may be identical
with the "Judas not Iscariot" mentioned in John 14:22: "Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord,
how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?" As it has been
suggested that Jude is identical with the apostle Thomas (see Jude Thomas), an identification of
"Simon Zelotes" with Thomas is also possible. The New Testament records nothing more of
Simon, aside from this multitude of pseudonyms.
In art, Simon has the identifying attribute of a saw because he was put to death by a saw.
See also the variant name Simeon.
In the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, Simon Zealotes sings a song with the other disciples,
worshipping Jesus, called "Simon Zealotes".
[edit] Sainthood
St. Simon, like the other Apostles, is regarded as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, the
Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Eastern Catholic Churches, the
Anglican Church and the Lutheran Church.
[edit] Notes
1. ^ San Simone
2. ^ a b c d Saint Simon the Apostle
3. ^ saints07.htm Saint Simon the Apostle
4. ^ Robert Eisenman, James the Brother of Jesus : The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early
Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls. (Viking Penguin) . 1997. :33-4.
5. ^ The Golden Legend: The Lives of Saints Simon and Jude
6. ^ St. Simon of Zealot - Catholic Online
7. ^ Epistula Apostolorum

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Simon the Apostle

• All appearances of "Simon" in the New Testament

• Legenda Aurea: Lives of Saints Simon and Jude
• Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Simon the Apostle

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