Person in the New Testament
Simon the Canaanite
Simon the Canaanite: the second Simon in the lists of the twelve
Portrait: an AI-generated artistic interpretation, not evidence of how Simon looked.
Who Simon is
This Simon is named only in the four lists of apostles, and he carries a tag in every one of them. Matthew's list names him Simon the Canaanite, placing him directly before Judas Iscariot. Mark's list also names him Simon the Canaanite, after Thaddeus and before Judas Iscariot. Luke's list has in his place a Simon called Zelotes, after James the son of Alpheus, and Acts names Simon Zelotes among those who went up into the upper room. No speech, journey, family or action is recorded for him in any of these verses.
Cited passages: Matthew 10:4, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15, Acts 1:13
Historical setting
The tag is what keeps him apart from the other Simon in the same lists, the one named first and surnamed Peter. Matthew and Mark call him the Canaanite; Luke and Acts have a Simon called Zelotes instead, and no verse says the two tags belong to one man. What joins them is that each Gospel list has twelve names and two Simons, the other being Simon Peter. The texts print both words without explaining either, and nothing in these verses says whether they describe a place, a group, or something else. His position varies slightly between the lists, but he is always among the last named, and in Matthew and Mark he stands immediately before Judas Iscariot. Beyond the name and the tag, these passages establish nothing about him.
Cited passages: Matthew 10:2, Mark 3:16, Luke 6:14, Matthew 10:4, Luke 6:15, Acts 1:13
How the story is told
The lists are built so that repeated names are separated by a tag, and he is the clearest case. Peter is fixed at the head of every list and given his surname there, and this Simon is fixed near the end and given a different word each time the list is retold. Where the tag sits also matters. In Matthew and Mark he is the last name before the notice of betrayal, so the roster closes on a pair. In Luke and Acts he stands between James the son of Alpheus and a Judas, and Acts, which has no Iscariot in the sequence, closes with Judas the brother of James instead.
Cited passages: Matthew 10:2, Matthew 10:4, Mark 3:19, Luke 6:15, Acts 1:13
Story moments
- Simon the Canaanite (Matthew 10:4). Matthew names him directly before Judas Iscariot in the list of the twelve.
- Named among the ordained twelve (Mark 3:18). Mark also calls him Simon the Canaanite, after Thaddeus.
- Simon called Zelotes (Luke 6:15). Luke's list has a Simon called Zelotes where Matthew and Mark have the Canaanite.
- In the upper room (Acts 1:13). Acts names a Simon Zelotes among those gathered after Jesus was taken up.
Key passages
Matthew 10:4
Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
Mark 3:18
And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite,
Luke 6:15
Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphæus, and Simon called Zelotes,
Acts 1:13
And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.
King James Version. 4 indexed passages in total.
For reflection
Two words are attached to his name, Canaanite in two lists and Zelotes in two others, and neither is explained. What does a reader do with a description the text declines to define?
Books Simon appears in
Related people
Names and references are adapted from STEPBible TIPNR. A person listed with a verse is named or indexed there; it does not mean they wrote or spoke it.