Simon the Zealot was one of the twelve apostles. His name is found four times in the New Testament (Mathew 10:4; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13). Other than having his name listed alongside the rest of the disciples, nothing else is written about him in the scriptures.
Was Simon A Zealot?
The Zealots were a Jewish sect whose goal was to overthrow the Roman government. They had a reputation for being fiery, fierce, and forceful. Because of Simon being referred to as the Zealot, many believe him to have belonged to this group, at least before he was called to be an apostle. Since the Bible does not indicate one way or the other, we have no way of being certain that he was indeed a member of the Zealots.
It is possible the name Simon the Zealot was used to describe his personal characteristics. Perhaps he had a zeal and passion about him to a degree that it was fitting to refer to him this way.
One other possibility for his name could have been to simply differentiate between him and Simon Peter, another one of Jesus’ disciples. Simon was a very common name in the Bible days. There are nine people listed in the New Testament that was named Simon, so we can assume there were many more. With so many of them floating around, it was helpful to have a way to distinguish one Simon from another.
How Did Simon the Zealot Die?
There are different accounts of how Simon the Zealot died, all of them based on tradition. One of the more popular traditions says the zealous one died as a martyr by being sawed in half. For this reason he is often-times portrayed in art holding a saw. Still other accounts have him being crucified anywhere from 67 to 74 AD. One other claim is he died peacefully from old age in Edessa.
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