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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 November 2011
Simon Zelotes or Simon the Cananæan is one of the Twelve of whom it is customary to say that we know nothing except that his name shows that he had once belonged to the Sect of the Zealots or Cananæans, the “physical-force men” of the Jews, and that he had afterwards, seeing the error of his ways, adopted the pacific teachings of Jesus.
It is therefore somewhat of a shock to discover from Josephus that, if his evidence be correct, the use of the name Zealot to describe a Jewish sect or party cannot be earlier than A.D. 66. For this reason it seems opportune to bring together the facts dealing with the Zealots and cognate contemporary movements, and in their light to ask once more what is the meaning of “Simon the Zealot.”
1 Typical, for instance, is the statement in the Encyclopædia Biblica, on Zealot: “It is applied distinctively to a sect whose tenets are virtually identical with those of the Assassins, of whom they are indeed the forerunners.” It can only be said of such statements that they reflect Schürer, not Josephus.
2 It is sometimes held that The Assumption of Moses belongs to this school, but the evidence is slight. Moreover the figure of Taxo is by no means clearly Messianic, even if Burkitt's ingenious suggestion that Taxo(k) is gematria for Eleazar, be rejected.
3 Antiq. XVIII, 1, 6.
4 B. J. II, 13.
5 Οὐκ ἄρα σὺ εἶ ὁ Αἰγύπτιος ὁ πρὁ τούτων τῶν ἡμερῶν ἀναστατώσας καὶ ἐξαγαγὼν εἰς τὴν ἔρημον τοὺς τετρακισχιλίους ἄνδρας τῶν σικαρίων;
6 B. J. VII, 8, 1–10. 1.
7 Gittin V, 7.
8 B. J. II, 13, 5.
9 B. J. VII, 11, 1.
10 Antiq. XVIII, 4, 1.
11 The part in question is μηδενα αλλογενη εισπορευεσθαι εντος του περι το ιερον τρυϕακτου και περιβολου ος δ᾽ αν ληϕθη εαυτω αιτιος εσται δια το εξακολουθειν θανατον.
12 Antiq. XII, 6, 2.