Simon

The New Testament does not tell us how Simon the Zealot died. Later Christians generally remembered him as a missionary and often as a martyr. The best-known Western tradition says that he joined Jude Thaddaeus in Persia and that the two were killed there, while other traditions place Simon in the Caucasus, Egypt, North Africa, or Britain. Accounts of his death include crucifixion and being sawn apart. Because the surviving traditions are late and conflicting, Simon's actual place and manner of death remain unknown.

Simon appears in each of the New Testament lists of the Twelve. Matthew and Mark call him Simon the Cananaean, while Luke and Acts call him Simon the Zealot. The terms are generally understood as different renderings of the same designation, derived from a Semitic word meaning zealous.

The New Testament does not tell us that Simon belonged to the later organized revolutionary movement commonly called the Zealots, nor does it describe his political views. More importantly for this investigation, Scripture says nothing about his missionary activity after the earliest apostolic period or about his death.

No surviving first- or second-century source provides a clear account of Simon the Zealot's death. Unlike Peter, Paul, James son of Zebedee, and James the brother of Jesus, Simon has no early martyrdom narrative that can be connected with contemporary or near-contemporary testimony.

Later apostolic catalogues attempt to fill this gap, but their accounts vary and sometimes confuse Simon the Zealot with other early Christians named Simon or Simeon. This makes identification particularly important when evaluating claims about his later life.

A striking example of the identity problem appears in a work transmitted under the name of Hippolytus. It identifies Simon the Zealot as the son of Clopas, says that he succeeded James the Just as bishop of Jerusalem, and reports that he died and was buried there at the age of 120.

Those details correspond closely to the much better established early tradition concerning Simeon son of Clopas, the successor of James in the Jerusalem church. Hegesippus, preserved by Eusebius, describes Simeon son of Clopas as an elderly relative of Jesus who became bishop of Jerusalem and was eventually crucified during the reign of Trajan. The Pseudo-Hippolytus notice therefore appears to conflate Simon the Zealot with Simeon of Jerusalem and should not be used as straightforward evidence for the apostle's death.

The best-known Western tradition joins Simon with Jude Thaddaeus. In this account Simon first preaches in regions including Egypt before eventually joining Jude in Persia. Their preaching brings them into conflict with pagan religious authorities, and the two apostles are killed together.

Later Christian art particularly associates Simon with a saw, reflecting a tradition that he was sawn apart. Other versions describe him as crucified or simply killed by hostile pagan priests. These variations show that even within the Persian martyrdom tradition the precise manner of death was not consistently remembered.

Other traditions send Simon toward the Black Sea and Caucasus. Georgian tradition associates his death and burial with that region. Still another much later tradition claims that Simon preached in Britain and was crucified there.

The traditions concerning Simon are unusually diverse. The Persian tradition joins him with Jude and usually portrays both apostles as martyrs. Some Western accounts associate Simon specifically with being sawn apart, while other accounts describe crucifixion or another violent death.

Eastern traditions place Simon around the Black Sea or in the Caucasus and preserve different locations for his burial. Other traditions send him through Egypt and North Africa, while a late tradition extends his travels to Britain.

Another apparent tradition, in which Simon becomes bishop of Jerusalem and lives to the age of 120, is best explained by confusion between Simon the Zealot and Simeon son of Clopas. These conflicting accounts prevent a confident reconstruction of Simon's final years.

The most influential Western tradition places Simon's final missionary activity in Persia, where he is paired with Jude Thaddaeus and the two apostles suffer martyrdom together. Other traditions associate Simon with Egypt and North Africa, the Black Sea and Caucasus regions, and, in a much later tradition, Britain. The geographical traditions are too varied to identify his actual place of death with confidence.

There is no early independent evidence establishing where or how Simon the Zealot died. The New Testament provides only his name and designation, while detailed accounts of his missionary travels and death appear considerably later.

The tradition of Simon as a missionary and martyr became widespread in Christianity, and the Persian tradition shared with Jude became especially influential in the West. Nevertheless, the competing traditions concerning Persia, the Caucasus, Egypt, Britain, and Jerusalem demonstrate that no single location can be established from the surviving evidence.

The familiar tradition that Simon was sawn in two is likewise late. It became an important part of Christian art and devotion, but it should be presented as one tradition concerning his martyrdom rather than as an established historical fact.

New Testament apostolic lists; Hegesippus, preserved by Eusebius, concerning Simeon son of Clopas; Pseudo-Hippolytus, On the Twelve Apostles; later traditions concerning Simon and Jude in Persia; traditions concerning Simon in the Black Sea and Caucasus regions; later Western martyrdom traditions.