Simon the Zealot

Simon appears in all four New Testament lists of the Twelve but is not given an individual narrative. Matthew and Mark call him Simon the Cananaean or Cananaean, while Luke and Acts call him Simon the Zealot. The older term reflects an Aramaic word for a zealous person and should not be confused with 'Canaanite.' Whether Simon had belonged to a formally organized revolutionary Zealot movement before following Jesus cannot be established from Scripture, especially because the terminology and organization of anti-Roman groups developed over time. The biblical record securely tells us that Jesus chose him as one of the Twelve and that he remained with the apostolic company after the resurrection and ascension. Later traditions assign Simon missionary activity and martyrdom in various regions, but those accounts are not part of the New Testament biography.