SIMON (si'mon), (Elficop, see'mone), the same name, in origin and signification, as SIMEON.
1. Simon Maccahreus. One of the Maccabean family. ( Ste MACCABEES.) 2. The apostle, to whom Christ gave the name of Peter, after which he was rarely called by his former name alone, but usually by that of Peter, or else Simon Peter. (See PETER.) 3. Simon, surnamed ZELOTES (2:1AceP 6 Z7poris Simon the Zelot), one of the twelve apostles (Luke vi:15; Acts i:13), and probably so named from hav ing been one of the Zealots. (A. D. 27). He is (also called 'The Canaanite' (EtiLlop 6 KavavIrns in Matt. x :4; Mark iii :18). This, however, is not, as is usually the case, to be taken for a Gen tile name, but is merely an Aramaic word signify ing 'zeal,' and therefore of the same signification as Zelotes. Simon is the least known of all the apostles, not a single circumstance, beyond the fact of his apostleship, being recorded in the Scriptures. He is probably to be identified with Simon the son of Cleophas; and, if so, the traditions concern ing that person, given by those who make them distinct, must be assigned to him. These tradi tions, however, assign a different destiny to this Simon, alleging that he preached the Gospel throughout North Africa, from Egypt to Mauri tania, and that he even proceeded to the remote isles of Britain.
4. Son of Cleophas and Mary, brother of the apostles James and Jude, and a kinsman of Jesus (Matt. xiii:55; Mark vi :3). (A. D. 28.) He is probably the same with the Simon Zelotes above mentioned, and in that case we must regard the separate traditions respecting him as apocryphal, and take those assigned to the present Simon as proper to both. They amount to this, that after St. James had been slain by the Jews in A. D. 62, his brother Simon was appointed to succeed him in the government of the church at Jerusalem, and that forty-three years after, when Trajan caused search to be made for all those who claimed to be of the race of David, he was accused before Atticus, the governor of Palestine, and after en during great torture, was crucified, being then 120 years of age (Epiphanies, Herres. c. 14; Euseb.
Hist. Eccles. iii, 32; Tillemont, Hist. Eccles. ii, 2o4).
5. The father of Judas Iscariot (John vi :71 ; xii :4 ; xiii :2, 26), A. D. before 27.
6. A Pharisee who invited Jesus to his house (Luke vii :40, 43, 44), A. D. 28.
7. Simon the Leper, so called from having for merly been afflicted with leprosy (Matt. xxvi :6; Mark xiv : 3), A. D. 29. He was of Bethany, and after the raising of Lazarus, gave a feast, probably in celebration of that event, at which both Jesus and Lazarus were present (comp. John xii :2). He was, therefore, probably a near friend or relation of Lazarus; some suppose that he was his brother ; others that he was the husband of Mary, the sister of Lazarus, who at this feast anointed the Lord's feet, and that Lazarus abode with them. But all this is pure conjecture.
8. Simon the Cyrcnian, who was compelled to aid in bearing the cross of Jesus (Matt. xxvii :32 ; Mark xv :2I ; Luke xxiii :26), A. D. 29. Whether this surname indicated that Simon was one of the many Jews from Cyrene who came to Jerusalem at tile Passover, or that he was originally from Cyrcne, although then settled at Jerusalem, is uncertain. The latter seems the more likely opinion, as Simon's two sons, Alexander and Rufus, were certainly disciples of Christ ; and it was perhaps the knowledge of this fact which led the Jews to incite the soldiers to lay on him the burden of the cross. The family of Simon seems to have resided afterwards at Rome; for St. Paul, in his epistle to the church there, salutes the wife of Simon with tenderness and respect, calling her his 'mother,' though he does not expressly name her: 'Salute Rufus, and his mother and mine' (Rom. xvi :13).
9. Simon the tanner, with whom St. Peter lodged at Joppa (Acts ix:43; x:6, 17, 32), A. D. 32. He was doubtless a disciple. His house was by the seaside, beyond the wall, as the trade of a tanner was one which the Jews did not allow to be carried on inside their towns.