Simeon of Jerusalem was a
Jewish Christian
Jewish Christians ( he, יהודים נוצרים, yehudim notzrim) were the followers of a Jewish religious sect that emerged in Judea during the late Second Temple period (first century AD). The Nazarene Jews integrated the belief of Jesus ...
leader and according to most Christian traditions the second
Bishop of Jerusalem (63 or 70–107 or 117), succeeding
James, brother of Jesus
James the Just, or a variation of James, brother of the Lord ( la, Iacobus from he, יעקב, and grc-gre, Ἰάκωβος, , can also be Anglicized as "Jacob"), was "a brother of Jesus", according to the New Testament. He was an early le ...
. Simeon is sometimes identified with
Simon, brother of Jesus, and has also been identified with the
Apostle Simon the Zealot
Simon the Zealot (, ) or Simon the Canaanite or Simon the Canaanean (, ; grc-gre, Σίμων ὁ Κανανίτης; cop, ⲥⲓⲙⲱⲛ ⲡⲓ-ⲕⲁⲛⲁⲛⲉⲟⲥ; syc, ܫܡܥܘܢ ܩܢܢܝܐ) was one of the most obscure among the apostl ...
.
Life
In his ''
Church History''
Eusebius of Caesarea gives the list of these bishops. According to tradition the first bishop of Jerusalem was
James the Just, the "
brother of the Lord", who according to Eusebius said that he was appointed bishop by the apostles
Peter, James (whom Eusebius identifies with
James, son of Zebedee
James the Great, also known as James, son of Zebedee, Saint James the Great, Saint James the Greater, Saint James the Elder, or Saint Jacob ( Aramaic ܝܥܩܘܒ ܒܪ ܙܒܕܝ, Arabic يعقوب, Hebrew בן זבדי , '' Yaʿăqōḇ'', Latin ...
), and
John.
According to Eusebius, Simeon of Jerusalem was selected as James' successor after the conquest of Jerusalem which took place immediately after the martyrdom of James (i.e. no earlier than 70 AD) which puts the account in agreement with that of
Flavius Josephus, who puts James' first arrest and subsequent release by Procurator
Lucceius Albinus in 63 AD and the modern footnotes show that his martyrdom took place some years afterwards, shortly before the
destruction of Jerusalem.
According to
Hegesippus, Simeon prevailed against Thebutis, whom the church fathers deemed a
heresiarch, and led most of the Christians to
Pella before the outbreak of the
First Jewish–Roman War
The First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), sometimes called the Great Jewish Revolt ( he, המרד הגדול '), or The Jewish War, was the first of three major rebellions by the Jews against the Roman Empire, fought in Roman-controlled ...
in 66 and the destruction of
Herod's Temple in 70.
According to Eusebius, Simeon was executed about the year 107 or 117 under the reign of emperor
Trajan
Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...
by the proconsul
Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes in Jerusalem or the vicinity. However, this must be a mistake by Eusebius because the administrator (
Legate
Legate may refer to:
* Legatus, a higher ranking general officer of the Roman army drawn from among the senatorial class
:*Legatus Augusti pro praetore, a provincial governor in the Roman Imperial period
*A member of a legation
*A representative, ...
) of the
Roman province of Judea at the time of the crucifixion was
Quintus Pompeius Falco
Quintus Pompeius Falco (c. 70after 140 AD) was a Roman senator and general of the early 2nd century AD. He was governor of several provinces, most notably Roman Britain, where he hosted a visit to the province by the Emperor Hadrian in the last ...
(between 105 and 107 AD) and Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes was there much earlier, from 99 to 102 AD.
Identifications
Simeon is sometimes identified with
Simon, the "
brother of the Lord", who is mentioned in passing in the Bible (Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3) and pointing to
Hegesippus referring to him as the second bishop of Jerusalem and as a cousin of Jesus. Other
exegetes consider the brothers to be actual brothers and Hegesippus' wording as subsuming both James and Simeon under a more general term.
He has also been identified with the Apostle
Simon the Zealot
Simon the Zealot (, ) or Simon the Canaanite or Simon the Canaanean (, ; grc-gre, Σίμων ὁ Κανανίτης; cop, ⲥⲓⲙⲱⲛ ⲡⲓ-ⲕⲁⲛⲁⲛⲉⲟⲥ; syc, ܫܡܥܘܢ ܩܢܢܝܐ) was one of the most obscure among the apostl ...
.
[Appendix to the Works of Hippolytus 49.11]
See also
*
Saint Simeon of Jerusalem, patron saint archive
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simeon Of Jerusalem
Year of birth unknown
100s deaths
1st-century bishops of Jerusalem
2nd-century bishops of Jerusalem
2nd-century Christian martyrs
2nd-century executions
People executed by crucifixion
People executed by the Roman Empire
People in Acts of the Apostles
Saints from the Holy Land