Saint Simeon of Jerusalem, son of Clopas

Clopas

Clopas Clopas Clopas (also known as Cleophas (KJV or Clophas) is a figure of early Christianity. The name appears only once in the New Testament, specifically in John 19:25:...

, was a Jewish Christian leader and according to most Christian traditions the second Bishop of Jerusalem (62-107).

Life

Eusebius of Caesarea

Eusebius of Caesarea

Eusebius of Caesarea also called Eusebius Pamphili, was a Roman historian, exegete and Christian polemicist. He became the Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine about the year 314. Together with Pamphilus, he was a scholar of the Biblical canon...

 gives the list of these bishops. According to a universal tradition the first bishop of Jerusalem was Saint James the Just

James the Just

James , first Bishop of Jerusalem, who died in 62 AD, was an important figure in Early Christianity...

, the "brother of the Lord," who according to Eusebius said that he was appointed bishop by the Apostles Peter

Saint Peter

Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...

, St. James (whom Eusebius identifies with James, son of Zebedee), and John

John the Apostle

John the Apostle, John the Apostle, John the Apostle, (Aramaic Yoħanna, (c. 6 - c. 100) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of James, another of the Twelve Apostles...

.

According to Eusebius, James was killed at the instigation of the high priest, Ananus, in about the year 63.

Eusebius relates that Simeon was elected by the community at Jerusalem chose to succeed James:

After the martyrdom of James and the conquest of Jerusalem which immediately followed, it is said that those of the apostles and disciples of the Lord that were still living came together from all directions with those that were related to the Lord according to the flesh (for the majority of them also were still alive) to take counsel as to who was worthy to succeed James. They all with one consent pronounced Symeon, the son of Clopas

Clopas

Clopas Clopas Clopas (also known as Cleophas (KJV or Clophas) is a figure of early Christianity. The name appears only once in the New Testament, specifically in John 19:25:...

, of whom the Gospel also makes mention; to be worthy of the episcopal throne of that parish. He was a cousin, as they say, of the Saviour. For Hegesippus records that Clopas was a brother of Joseph.

According to Hegesippus, Simeon prevailed against Thebutis, whom the church fathers deemed a Judaizing heresiarch

Heresiarch

A heresiarch is a founder or leader of a heretical doctrine or movement, as considered by those who claim to maintain an orthodox religious tradition or doctrine...

, and led most of the Christians to Pella

Pella, Jordan

Pella is a village and the site of ancient ruins in northwestern Jordan. It is half an hour by car from Irbid, in the north of the country....

 before the outbreak of the Jewish War in 66 and the destruction of Herod's Temple in 70.

About the year 107 or 117 he was crucified

Crucifixion

Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...

 under Trajan

Trajan

Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...

 by the proconsul Atticus in Jerusalem or the vicinity.

Identifications

Simeon of Jerusalem is identified with one of the prophets and teachers in Antioch named "Simeon, who was called Niger" in Acts 13:1. Simeon is sometimes identified with Simon

Simon (brother of Jesus)

Simon was the brother of Jesus in the New Testament. It is implied that his mother was Mary, and his other brothers were James the Just, Joses and Jude....

, the "brother of the Lord", who is mentioned in passing in the Bible (Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3) (although Aramaic had no term for "cousin") and pointing to Hegesippus

Hegesippus

The Greek name Hegesippos, commonly Latinized as Hegesippus can refer to the following persons:* Hegesippus * Saint Hegesippus...

 referring to him as the "second cousin" as bishop of Jerusalem. Other exegetes consider the brothers to be actual brothers and Hegesippus' wording as subsuming both James and Simeon under a more general term.

He has also been identified with the Apostle Simon the Zealot

Simon the Zealot

The apostle called Simon Zelotes, Simon the Zealot, in Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13; and Simon Kananaios or Simon Cananeus , was one of the most obscure among the apostles of Jesus. Little is recorded of him aside from his name...

.