Simon the Zealot may have belonged to a Jewish sect known as the Zealots, who were bent on revolution and looking for a Messiah to violently overthrow Rome. Or he may have simply been zealous for the Mosaic Law. Or zealous for Jesus and his teachings. The Bible doesn’t tell us what “the Zealot” signified, so no one can say for sure.

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Simon is mentioned occasionally in early church writings, but centuries after the gospels were written, Jerome and others mistranslated Simon’s title, believing that Matthew and Mark referred to him as Simon the Canaanite or Simon the Cananaean. They assumed he was from Cana—a town within Galilee—or possibly even descended from one of the non-Jewish people groups in the area.

This mistake led to the idea that Simon was present at the wedding in Cana in John 2, where Jesus performed his first miracle and turned water into wine, and that he was the same person as Simon, the brother of Jesus (Matthew 13:55).

Some Bible translations preserve Jerome’s mistake out of respect for tradition, calling Simon “the Canaanite” or “the Cananaean” in Matthew 10:3 and Mark 3:18.

While the Bible doesn’t tell us anything more about Simon the Zealot, a later tradition claims he preached in Egypt, and then partnered with Judas, the brother of Jesus:

“Judas preached first in Mesopotamia and in Pontus, and Simon preached in Egypt, and from thence came they into Persia, and found there two enchanters, Zaroes and Arphaxat, whom S. Matthew had driven out of Ethiopia.” —The Golden Legend

How did Simon the Zealot die?

There are numerous accounts of Simon the Zealot’s death, but the earliest records came centuries after his death. Like many of the apostles, it’s hard to conclude exactly which tradition (if any) can be trusted:

• In the fifth century, Moses of Chorene wrote that Simon the Zealot was martyred in the
• The Kingdom of Iberia.
• The Golden Legend says he was martyred
• in Persia in 65 AD.
• Ethiopian Christians believe he was crucified in Samaria.
• Another account says he was crucified in 61 AD in Britain.
• In the sixteenth century, Justus Lipsius claimed he was sawed in half.
• Eastern tradition claims he died of old age in Edessa.

So maybe he was a martyr. And maybe not.