The name Simon occurs in all of the Synoptic Gospels and the Book of Acts each time there is a list of apostles, without further details:
Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes, And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.
To distinguish him from Simon Peter, he is given a surname in all three of the Synoptic Gospels where he is mentioned. Simon is called "Zelotes" in Luke and Acts (Luke 6:15Acts 1:13). For this reason, it is generally assumed that Simon was a former member of the political party, the Zealots. In Matthew and Mark, however, he is called "Kananites" in the Byzantine majority and "Kananaios" in the Alexandrian manuscripts and the Textus Receptus (Matthew 10:4Mark 3:18). Both Kananaios and Kananites derive from the Hebrew word קנאיqanai, meaning zealous, so most scholars today generally translate the two words to mean "Zealot". However, Jerome and others, such as Bede, suggested that the word "Kananaios" or "Kananite" should be translated as "Canaanean" or "Canaanite", meaning that Simon was from the town of קנה Cana in Galilee.[5] If this is the case, his epithet would have been "Kanaios".
Robert Eisenman has argued that contemporary talmudic references to Zealots refer to them as kanna'im "but not really as a group—rather as avenging priests in the Temple".[6] 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, are more controversial. John P. Meier argues that the term "Zealot" is a mistranslation and in the context of the Gospels means "zealous" or "religious" (in this case, for keeping the Law of Moses), as the Zealot movement apparently did not exist until 30 to 40 years after the events of the Gospels.[7] However, neither Brandon[8] nor Hengel[9] support this view.
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.
The Catholic Encyclopedia suggests that Simon the Zealot may be the same person as Simeon of Jerusalem or Simon the brother of Jesus or both. He would then be the cousin of Jesus or a son of Joseph from a previous marriage.[10] Another tradition holds that this is the Simeon of Jerusalem who became the second bishop of Jerusalem, although he was born in Galilee.[11][12]
In the apocryphal Arabic Infancy Gospel a fact related to this apostle is mentioned. A boy named Simon is bitten by a snake in his hand; he is healed by Jesus, who told the child "you shall be my disciple". The mention ends with the phrase "this is Simon the Cananite, of whom mention is made in the Gospel."[15]
In later tradition, Simon is often associated with Jude the Apostle as an evangelizing team; in Western Christianity, 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 or Beirut, Lebanon, where both were martyred in 65 AD. This version is the one found in the Golden Legend. He may have suffered crucifixion as the Bishop of Jerusalem. According to an Eastern tradition Simon travelled to Georgia on a missionary trip, died in Abkhazia and was buried in Nicopsia. His remains were later transferred to Anakopia.[16]
Simon born in Cana of Galilee who for his fervent affection for his Master and great zeal that he showed by all means to the Gospel, was surnamed Zelotes, having received the Holy Ghost from above, travelled through Egypt, and Africa, then through Mauretania and all Libya, preaching the Gospel. And the same doctrine he taught to the Occidental Sea, and the Isles called Britanniae.
Another tradition, doubtless inspired by his title "the Zealot", states that he was involved in the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 AD).[8][9]
The second century Epistle of the Apostles (Epistula Apostolorum),[21] a polemic against gnostics, lists him among the apostles purported to be writing the letter (who include Thomas) as Judas Zelotes. 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, Our 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. Barbara Thiering identified Simon Zelotes with Simon Magus; however, this view has received no serious acceptance. The New Testament records nothing more of Simon, aside from this multitude of possible but unlikely pseudonyms. He is buried in the same tomb as Jude Thaddeus, in the left transept of the St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, under the altar of Saint Joseph.
In Islam, Muslim exegesis and Quran commentary name the twelve apostles and include Simon amongst the disciples. Muslim tradition says that Simon was sent to preach the faith of God to the Berbers, outside North Africa.[22]
In art, Simon has the identifying attribute of a saw because according to tradition he was martyred by being sawn in half.[11]
^Booth, A.D. (1981). "The Chronology of Jerome's Early Years". Phoenix. 35 (3). Classical Association of Canada: 241. doi:10.2307/1087656. JSTOR1087656. This work [De viris illustribus], as he reveals at its start and finish, was completed in the fourteenth year of Theodosius, that is, between 19 January 392 and 18 January 393.
^Meier, John (2001). A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus Volume 3: Companions and Competitors. Yale University. pp. 132–135. ISBN978-0-300-14032-3.
^McDowell, Sean (2016). The Fate of the Apostles: Examining the Martyrdom Accounts of the Closest Followers of Jesus. Routledge. p. 247. ISBN9781317031895.
^Noegel, Scott B.; Wheeler, Brandon M. (2003). Historical Dictionary of Prophets in Islam and Judaism. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press (Rowman & Littlefield). p. 86. ISBN978-0810843059. Muslim exegesis identifies the disciples of Jesus as Peter, Andrew, Matthew, Thomas, Philip, John, James, Bartholomew, and Simon
^"The Calendar". The Church of England. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
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