Simon the Zealot, a.k.a. Simon the Canaanite: not much is known about him. He seems just part of the supporting cast of the disciples, no speaking role granted. He has the epithets of Zealot or Canaanite to distinguish him from Simon Peter. While the Canaanite moniker is simply geographical, the Zealot attribution is more problematic. It may be just another name for Cana, his home town. Or it may be closer to our meaning of zealous, zealous for keeping the Law of Moses. Or again, it could refer to the Zealot movement, a renegade group of Jews fighting against the Roman occupation of Palestine. Some hold that this Simon was a brother of Jesus, but most believe that the Simon identified as Jesus’s brother in Mark (6:3) was not the same as the disciple.

There are many competing traditions regarding Simon’s apostleship. Reports have him traveling to Egypt, then to Persia, where he joined Jude, to the Caucuses, and even to Britain. He was said to have been sawed in half for his martyrdom, perhaps in Armenia with his traveling companion Jude, but others say he was killed in Britain. Where and when are unknown. His relics lie with Jude in St. Peter’s.

So why the fish emblem? A mystery to me. Perhaps the reredos artist, having enough of instruments of torture by the time of this penultimate panel, needed some happier emblem. Fish would be a good choice, as it complements the ship of Jude, recalling again their travels together by sea. Simon was not specifically called a “fisher of men,” unlike Peter and Andrew, but he certainly preached the Gospel, so that might have been sufficient for this piscine emblem. 

Dickerman Hollister, Jr. MD