Simon Zelotes

9.9

A man who was one of Jesus's twelve main followers, often called Simon the Zealot

proper noun

: Simón Zelotes

Simon Zelotes is one of the twelve Apostles mentioned in the New Testament.

Examples

Simon Zelotes is sometimes referred to as Simon the Zealot in various translations of the Bible.
The feast day of Simon Zelotes is celebrated in the Western Christian tradition.
Some scholars debate whether Simon Zelotes and Simon the Cananaean are the same person.
One of the Apostles is Simon Zelotes.
Did Simon Zelotes preach in Jerusalem?
In the New Testament, Simon Zelotes is sometimes called Simon the Zealot.
Many Christians commemorate Simon Zelotes during their feasts.

Synonyms

St. Simon

vsSimon Zelotes

6.7

One of the twelve men who followed Jesus and helped spread his teachings

is the same apostle but uses the ordinary epithet form

Simon the Zealot

vsSimon Zelotes

8.3

One of the twelve followers of Jesus, called the Zealot

is the same apostle but named in a more general way

Simon the Canaanite

vsSimon Zelotes

8.8

One of the twelve apostles of Jesus active in the first century

is the same apostle but prefers the simpler identifying form

Surface Forms

Simon Zelotes main

Morphology

Simon + Zelotes

The phrase is a proper name composed of a personal name plus an epithet: 'Zelotes' is a Greek form meaning 'the Zealot', so if a learner knows the constituent senses (Simon + Zelotes/zealot) they can infer it refers to 'Simon the Zealot' rather than an idiomatic meaning. However, 'Zelotes' is an archaic/lexicalized epithet and requires religious/cultural knowledge or recognition of the root 'zealot', so understanding is only partly transparent to an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Simon Zelotes may come from the name Zelotes, meaning 'zealot', a person with strong passion for their faith or who belonged to a group that resisted foreign rule. So the name probably shows he was known for strong religious belief.