SIMON
754
SIMON
as "the Just," though they believe this to be Simon II (conip. tor the Jewish anecdotes, Raphall, ///*•/. of Jews, i, 115-124; Prideaux, Connection, ii, 1). — Smith.
4. "A governor of the Temple" in tlie time of Seleu- cus Philopator, whose information as to the treasures of the Temple led to the sacrilegious attempt of Heliodo- rus (2 Mace, iii, 4, etc.). H.C. 175. After this attempt failed, through the interference of the high-priest Onias, Simon accused Onias of conspiracy (iv, 1, 2), and a bloody feud arose between their two parties (ver. 3). Onias appealed to' the king, but nothing is known as to the result or the later history of Simon. Considerable doubt exists as to the exact nature of the office which he held ( Trpoornrf/e tov \tpov, iii, 4 ). Various in- terpretations are given by Grimm ( Exeg, Hundb. ad loc. ). The chief difficulty lies in the fact that Simon is said to have been of " the tribe of Benjamin" ( ver. 3), while the earlier "ruler of the house of God" ( o t'lyoi'^ti'oi; oiKov tov ^eov [Kvpiov], 1 Chron. ix, 11; 2 Chron. xxxi, 13; Jer. xx, 1) seems to have been always a priest, and the "captain of the Temple" (arpaTriyoQ TOV iepov, Luke xxii, 4, with Lightfoot's note; Acts iv, 1 ; V, 24, 26) and the keeper of the treasures (1 Chron. xxvi, 24; 2 Chron. xxxi, 12) must have been at least Levites. Herzfeld {Gesc/i. Is?: i, 218) conjectures that Benjamin is an error for Minjamin, the head of a priest- ly house (Neh. xii, 5, 17). In support of this view it may be observed that Menelaus, the usurping high- priest, is said to have been a brother of Simon (2 Mace, iv, 23), and no intimation is anywhere given that he was not of priestly descent. At the same time, the cor- ruption (if it exist) dates from an earlier period than the present (ireek text, for "tribe" (jpvXli) could not be used for " family" (o'lKog}. Tlie various reading ayopavojxiaQ ( " regulation of the market" ) for irapavo^iiag ( " dis- order," iii, 4), which seems to be certainly correct, points to some office in connection with the supply of the sacrifices; and probably Simon was appointed to carry out the design of Seleucus, who (as is stated in the context) had undertaken to defray the cost of them (ver. 3). In this case there would be less difficulty in a Benjamite acting as the agent of a foreign king, even in a matter which concerned the Temple service. — Smith.
5. A resident of Jerusalem, son of Boethus, a priest of Alexandria, and a person of considerable note, whose daughter Herod the Great married, having first raised her father's family to sufficient distinction by putting him into the high-priesthood in place of Jesus the son of Pliabet (.losephus, Arit. xv, 9, 3). B.C. 23. The woman having become involved in the domestic con- spiracies of his later reign, he divorced her, and dis- placed her father in the pontidcate by Mattathias the son of Theophilus {ibid, xvii, 4, 2). B.C. 5. See High-
I'KIKST.
6. A slave of Herod who usurped royalty and com- mitted many atrocities till he was overcome and be- headed by (jratus (Josephus, Ant. xvii, 10, G). B.C. 4.
7. A projjhet of the sect of the Essenes who interpreted Archelaiis's dream of the end of his reign (Joseplius, .4 nt. xvii, 13, 3). A.U. 6.
8. The father of Judas (q. v.) Iscariot (John vi, 71 ; xii. 4; xiii, 2, 2(5). A. D. ante 27.
9. One of the apostles, usually designated Simon Pe- ter (q. v.).
10. Another of the apostles, distinguished from the preceding as " the Canaanite," or rather C<inanite (Matt. X, 4; Mark iii, 18), otherwise described as Simon Ze- lotes (Luke vi, 15; Acts i, 13). A.I). 27. The latter term (^»;\airijc), which is peculiar to Luke, is the Greek equivalent for theChaldee term ("XiJ?) preserved by Matthew and Mark (KrivrtriVz/r, as in text, recepf., or Kavnvalov, as in the Vulg., CdniiniBUS, and in the best modern editions). Each of these eipially points out .Simon as belonging to the faction of the Zealots, who were conspicuous for their fierce advocacj' of the Mosaic
ritual. The supposed references to Canaan (A. Y.) or to Cana ( Luther's version ) are equally erroneous. See Canaamtk. The term Karanrz/f appears to have survived the other as the distinctive surname of Simon {Const. Apost. vi, 14 ; viii, 27). He has been frequently identified with Simon the brother of Jesus, although Eusebius (//. E. iii, 11) clearly distinguishes between the apostles and the relations of Jesus. It is less likely that he was identical with Symeon, the second bishop of Jerusalem, as stated bj' Sophronius {App. ad Hieron. Catal.). Simon the Canaanite is reported, on the doubt- ful authoritj'of the Pseudo-Dorotheus and of Nicephorus Callistus, to have preached in Egypt, Cyrene, and Mauri- tania (Burton, Lectures, i, 333, note), and, on the ecjual- ly doubtful authoritj' of an annotation preserved in an original copy of the Apostolical Constitutions (viii, 27), to have been crucified in Judaea in the reign of Domitian. — Smith,
11. A relative of our Lord, the only undoubted no- tice of whom occurs in Matt, xiii, 55 ; Mark vi, 3, where, in common with James, Joses, and Judas, he is mentioned as one of the " brethren" of Jesus. A.D. 28. He has generally been identified with Symeon, who be- came bishop of Jerusalem after the death of James, A.D. 62 (Euseb. //. E. iii, II ; iv, 22), and who suffered mar- tyrdom in the reign of Trajan at the extreme age of 120 years (Hegesippus, ap. Euseb. H. E. iii, 32) in the year 107, or, according to Burton {Lectuirs, ii, 17, note), in 104. A very considerable probability also has from early times been attached to the oi)inion which identi- fies him with the subject of the preceding paragraph, for in all the lists of the apostles he is named along with James the son of Alphieus, and Jude or Thaddseus. But in whatever sense the term " brother" is accepted — a vexed question which has been alreadj* amply discussed under IJROTnER and JAMiis— it is clear that neither Eusebius nor the author of the so-called Apostolical Constitutions understood Symeon to be the brother of James, nor consequently the "brother" of the Lord. Eusebius invariably describes James as "the brother" of Jesus (//. E. i, 12; ii, 1, al.), but Symeon as the son of Clopas and the cousin of Jesus (iii, 11 ; iv, 22), and the same distinction is made by the other author {Const. Apost. vii, 46). — Smith.