Zenas the Lawyer ( grc, Ζηνᾶς) was a first-century Christian mentioned in

Paul the Apostle Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

Epistle to Titus The Epistle to Titus is one of the three pastoral epistles (along with 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy) in the New Testament, historically attributed to Paul the Apostle. It is addressed to Saint Titus and describes the requirements and duties of elders ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

. In Titus 3:13, Paul writes: "Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them" (

KJV The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...

). His name is a shortened form of "Zenodoros", meaning "gift of Zeus". By tradition, he is often counted as one of the unnamed seventy disciples sent out by Jesus into the villages of

Galilee Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...

, as mentioned in .''Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Definition for 'ZENAS'". "

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia The ''International Standard Bible Encyclopedia'' refers to two different versions of a Bible encyclopedia: a 1915 fundamentalist edition, and a 1979–1995 revised evangelical edition. The first version was published under the general editorship ...

". - ISBE; 1915.'' It has been suggested that Zenas was the inaugural

bishop of Lydda Diocese of Lydda ( Lod) is one of the oldest bishoprics of the early Christian Church in the Holy Land. Suppressed under Persian and Arab-Islamic rule, it was revived by the Crusaders and remains a Latin Catholic titular see. History In early ...

and the author of the

Acts of Titus The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...

. Some have suggested that Zenas is also mentioned in the apocryphal

Acts of Paul The Acts of Paul is one of the major works and earliest pseudepigraphal series from the New Testament apocrypha also known as Apocryphal Acts. This work is part of a body of literature either about or purporting to be written by Paul the Apostl ...

under the name of Zenon, the son of

Onesiphorus Onesiphorus (meaning "bringing profit" or "useful") was a Christian referred to in the New Testament letter of Second Timothy ( and ). According to the letter sent by St. Paul, Onesiphorus sought out Paul who was imprisoned at the time in Rome. ...

. Zenas the Lawyer is venerated as a

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

by the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

(April 14),

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

(September 27 (by Julian Calendar), January 4), and other Christian Churches.

Occupation

There has been debate among scholars about the description of Zenas as a "lawyer", as the Greek word used can refer to an expert in either Jewish or Roman law. It is possible that Paul only mentions his profession in order to avoid confusion with another "Zenas". Proponents of the view that Zenas was an expert in Jewish law have pointed to a number of facts, including other New Testament uses of the word, his association with Apollos (a Jewish convert to Christianity) and the use of the related word for "Law" (referring to the Law of Moses) earlier in the letter. Others have argued against this view by pointing to extra-biblical uses of the word and Paul's attitude to experts in the Law in his other letters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zenas Seventy disciples People in the Pauline epistles Ancient Greek lawyers Epistle to Titus