In the Bible, Simon was surnamed “Zealot” to distinguish him from the other Simon, who is nicknamed Peter. He is called a Zealot, which may indicate his affiliation with a radical political party that wanted to rid the Holy Land of the Roman occupation. He is one of the most obscure among the Twelve Disciples, and were it not for his designation as a Zealot we would know almost nothing about him from the Bible. Tradition and legend provide enough information to construct a basic profile of this enigmatic disciple, though the reliability of the available information is doubtful.
Who Was Simon and What is a Zealot?
Simon was a very common name in ancient Judea. In the gospels, at least nine different people have that name, but only one was known as Simon the Zealot. The most prominent other Simon went by the name Peter, though Jesus would at times revert to his first name (Luke 22:31).
According to the Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa, Jacobus de Voragine, Simon the Zealot and Jude Thaddaeus were brothers. The Latin version of the Bible also refers to Thaddaeus as a Zealot, which may explain why these two ministered together in later life.
The Zealots were a political group that opposed the Roman occupation of the Holy Land during the 1st century CE. This group was founded shortly after the Romans declared the lands native to the Jews as part of the Herodian Tetrarchy.
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Though they were a political structure dedicated to freeing the Jewish nation from Roman occupation, they were ideologically very similar to the Pharisees. Some considered them the fourth sect of Judaism after the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. The Zealots anticipated a Messiah figure who would lead them to victory against the Romans. It is possible that many people interpreted the rhetoric of Jesus about his kingdom from the local political perspective, rather than as Jesus intended.
Judah of Gaulanitis, also known as Judas of Galilee or Judas of Gamala, founded the Zealots in 6 CE. A similar, though seemingly more militant group, the Sicarii, would even attack Jewish settlements they considered apostate for not opposing Roman rule. These two groups played leading roles during the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE) during which Jerusalem and the Temple, which they gained control over, were destroyed (70 CE).
According to the Talmud, the Zealots were militant, wild ruffians known for being merciless, uncompromising, and extremely aggressive. The blame for the eventual destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple was placed on them. They may have had the support of religious leaders among the Jews early on but they lost it when they instigated a civil war which made victory against the Romans impossible.
First Encounter and Calling as a Disciple
Apart from his name appearing in the lists of disciples in the synoptic gospels and Acts, we know nothing about the interactions between Jesus and Simon the Zealot. The Gospel of John does not mention him at all.
According to the apocryphal Arabic Gospel of the Infancy of the Saviour, the calling of Simon the Zealot happened many years before the ministry of Jesus had officially started. This work relates the story of how, as children, Simon was bitten on his hand by a snake and Jesus healed him. Jesus then told the boy that he would become one of his disciples. The story ends with the words: “…this is Simon the Canaanite, of whom mention is made in the Gospel.”
Character and Personality
If we accept the designation “Zealot” as a reference to the 1st-century political party popular among many Jews, then Simon was a nationalist activist who was willing to associate himself with an ideology that opposed the authorities of the day. He would have been a radical in many people’s eyes, willing to accept the risk of standing up against the oppression of his people by taking part in activities aimed at expelling the Romans from Jewish lands.
The challenge with such a designation is that “Zealot” could also simply have indicated where Simon was from. The term Zealot is the Greek rendition of the Hebrew word Kanai which Jews used to use to refer to someone who was zealous for God. Cana was also a place in Galilee.
It could also be that Simon was merely zealous for Mosaic Law or Jesus. If this interpretation is correct, Simon was a dedicated believer and was passionate about his faith, though he may also have been quiet and reserved in word and deed.
This begs the question of whether an activist who was part of a militant political movement would have blended in well among other disciples. He never commented or acted in a way that justified a mention in the gospel narratives. One would expect such a person to be outspoken and bold.
Furthermore, Zealots were strict in their observance of the Mosaic Law. Jesus often engaged with the Pharisees, who shared most of the religious sentiments of the Zealots. It is conceivable that Jesus and Simon the Zealot would have had significant differences in views when it came to the interpretation and application of the Law, yet the gospel narratives never detail such a conflict.
The relative absence of Simon from the gospel narratives seems to indicate that he was a zealous believer rather than a militant agent for change in the face of oppression.
Significant Encounters
The Church Father Jerome assumed Simon was from Cana, which caused many to believe Simon must have been present at the wedding celebration in Canaan where Jesus turned water into wine. That assumption is based on speculation. The Bible does not record any significant interaction between Simon and Jesus.
Legacy and Tradition
Jerome, the 4th and early 5th-century Church Father, believed Simon was from Cana, presumably due to the Zealot/Kanai connotation. He said: “He was surnamed Peter to distinguish him from another Simon who is called the Cananean, from the village of Cana of Galilee, where the Lord turned water into wine.” True to this tradition, the King James Version calls this disciple “Simon the Canaanite” in Matthew 10:4 and Mark 3:18 but calls him Simon Zelotes in both instances where Luke lists him (Luke 6:15; Acts 113).
It is important to note that Matthew and Mark use the term kananaios, while Luke used the term Zēlōtēs. Scholars believe kananaios comes from the Aramaic qan’an which means “zealous one,” and therefore has the same meaning. The New American Standard Bible, The New International Version, and New Living Translation translate kananaios as Zealot, though many others follow the King James rendering of Cananaean or Canaanite.
This mistake was repeated throughout the ages, as is evident from The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine, which states:
“Simon is as much to say as obedient or being in heaviness. And he had a double name; he was said Simon Zelotes, and Simon Cananean of Cana a street that is in Galilee, there whereas our Lord converted the water into wine.”
No early record of the ministry of Simon the Zealot exists. In The Golden Legend, de Voragine claims that the brothers, Simon and Judas (Jude Thaddaeus) ministered together in Persia after Simon ministered alone in Egypt.
Death
There are at least six traditions concerning how and where Simon the Zealot died. Depending on the tradition they followed, artists would sometimes depict Simon according to his method of martyrdom. He often holds a saw.
According to Justus Lipsius, the Flemish Catholic philologist, philosopher, and humanist, Simon the Zealot was sawed in half in Saunir, Persia. This version seems to have a late origin since Lipsius died in the early 17th century.
De Voragine believed Simon and his brother Thaddaeus were martyred and crucified in Persia. Ethiopian Christians believe Simon came to the same fate, but that it occurred in Samaria. A much earlier version of events by Moses of Chorene, a 5th-century Armenian historian, relates how Simon was a martyr in “Caucasian Iberia,” approximately where modern-day Georgia is. Hippolytus of Rome, a notable Church Father from the late 2nd to early 3rd century, believed that Simon died by crucifixion in Britain during the Roman conquest of the island.
Only the Eastern tradition sees Simon die peacefully of old age in Edessa.
The suggestion that Simon, if he was a Zealot, could have died in the war against the Romans is highly unlikely. It would imply that he never truly converted from one who sought a Jewish kingdom to one that proclaimed the soon-to-be kingdom of God.
