Simon the Leper ( Greek: Σίμων ὁ λεπρός, ''Símōn ho leprós'') is a

biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

figure who lived in

Bethany Bethany ( grc-gre, Βηθανία,Murphy-O'Connor, 2008, p152/ref> Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ ''Bēṯ ʿAnyā'') or what is locally known as Al-Eizariya or al-Azariya ( ar, العيزرية, " laceof Lazarus"), is a Palestinian town in the West B ...

, a village in Judaea on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives. He is mentioned in the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

s according to

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Ch ...

and

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

. These books tell of how

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

made a visit to the house of Simon the Leper at

during the course of which a woman anoints the head of Jesus with costly ointment. Bethany was also the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.

Biblical accounts

The Gospel according to John recounts an episode with many similarities. John reports that Jesus attended a dinner where Lazarus reclined at the table with Jesus, and where Martha served the guests. According to John's Gospel, Jesus arrived in Bethany six days before

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Ancient Egypt, Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew calendar, He ...

, and while there, a dinner was given in His honor. John does not say when or by whom this dinner was given. According to John's Gospel, Mary anointed Jesus' toes. Matthew and John report that

Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betraye ...

and other

disciples of Jesus In Christianity, disciple primarily refers to a dedicated follower of Jesus. This term is found in the New Testament only in the Gospels and Acts. In the ancient world, a disciple is a follower or adherent of a teacher. Discipleship is not the ...

were in attendance and protested the costly anointing of Jesus.

Identification

Simon the Leper is sometimes identified with

Simon the Pharisee Simon was a Pharisee mentioned in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 7:36-50) as the host of a meal, who invited Jesus to eat in his house but failed to show him the usual marks of hospitality offered to visitors - a greeting kiss (v. 45), water to wash his ...

(see

Shimon ben Gamliel Simeon ben Gamliel (I) ( or רשב"ג הראשון; c. 10 BCE – 70 CE) was a '' Tanna'' sage and leader of the Jewish people. He served as nasi of the Great Sanhedrin at Jerusalem during the outbreak of the First Jewish–Roman War, succeeding ...

), who is mentioned in the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-volu ...

as the host of a meal during which the feet of Jesus are anointed by a penitent woman. Because of some similarities, efforts have been made to reconcile the events and characters, but some scholars have pointed out differences between the two events. An alternative explanation for the similarities is that the

Luke 7 Luke 7 is the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It tells the records of two great miracles performed by Jesus, his reply to John the Baptist's question, and the anointing by a sinful woman.Halley, ...

anointing and the anointing at Bethany happened with some of the same participants, but several years apart. Simon the Leper is also sometimes identified as the same person as Lazarus of Bethany, or identified as his father or brother. This is because Matthew and Mark mention Simon, while John mentions Lazarus, but all four gospels assume one lodging at Bethany during the last week. Abbé Drioux identified all three as one: Lazarus of Bethany, Simon the Leper of Bethany, and the Lazarus of the parable, on the basis that in the parable Lazarus is depicted as a leper, and due to a perceived coincidence between and —where after the raising of Lazarus, Caiaphas and Annas tried to have him killed. A medieval legend identifies Simon with Bishop

Julian of Le Mans Saint Julian of Le Mans (french: Saint Julien du Mans; la, Iulianus; 3rd century; perhaps 4th century) is a saint venerated in both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Church, honored as the first bishop of Le Mans. His feast day is 27 January. The ...

, despite the fact that Julian lived much later.Kosloski, Philip. "Did the leper Jesus cured become a bishop in France?", ''Aleteia'', January 29, 2019
/ref>

References

External links

{{New Testament people Saints from the Holy Land Followers of Jesus People in the canonical gospels