Simon the Canaanite

Simon Zelotes the Apostle (Luke 6.15; Acts 1.13), one of the Twelve is the same as "Simon the Canaanite" in Matt.10.4 and Mark 3.18, but he was a Jew, not a Canaanite. "Zelotes" is the word transliterated into English as "Zealot". The Zealots were members of a political party sworn to overthrow the Roman power by violent means; Simon must have been associated with this group before his call to discipleship, hence the name. The expression "Canaanite" in the other two texts is an error; the word in Greek is Kananites, mistranslated Canaanite. It denotes an inhabitant of Cana the Galilean village. It could also be a transliteration of the Hebrew ginah, meaning "zealous", so bringing the word in line with the first two texts. Cana was near Nazareth and there is nothing unlikely in Jesus having chosen one of his twelve disciples from that village.