The Narrow Path Ministries

I am a Pastor, writing a sermon about the apostles. I came to Simon the Zealot, and I'm usually very hesitant to expand that far beyond the Scriptures when looking for helpful information... Thus as the apostle list goes on and on, I have less and less information to include in my sermon about each and every apostle. For example, obviously I could have easily made the sermon all about Peter, but we have less text to go off for Matthew except maybe the call of Levi, or for Thomas except for his time in John 11, and John 20...

Long story short, I of course have looked into a little extra-biblical traditions and such when I came to Simon the Zealot. I read that some people think that Simon was not a "member" of the zealot sect of Judaism, that it may have been just a nickname Jesus gave Him like Jesus gave the Sons of Thunder.

Does anybody have any views about who Simon the zealot is? Just by first thoughts, I could see why some scholars would be rather uncomfortable with him being a part of the zealous sect, so are these scholars view founded on and validated by fact, or by fear and disagreement?

Yes, the words translated from the Greek should be "Simon the zealous [one]", the word "zealous" being an adjectival noun.
I didn't notice that before; I thought the translation "zealot" was the translation of a regular Greek noun.

I have always associated that Simon with the Zealot sect of the Jews, a sect that wanted to free the Jews from the domination of Rome.

Reddit.com/r/academicbiblical would have a thorough answer for you. Just bear in mind they are scholars of varying or no faith. But that is a strictly Greek and historical question, so theology isn't an issue.


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