Simon the Canaanite, an apostle

Q. Why is the other apostle named Simon called a Canaanite in Matthew 10:4 and Mark 3:18?

A. This Simon receives a designation to distinguish him from the other apostle Simon (Simon Peter).[i] It appears that the predominant view about the word “Canaanite” in these verses does not have to do with ethnicity, or a geographical location, but that it is a translation of a Syriac word (which most now call Aramaic) meaning “zealous” and probably referring to a sect of the Jews. For example, Smith’s Bible Dictionary says that Luke’s ζηλωτης (Zelotes, in Luke & Acts) is the Greek equivalent for the Syriac term κανανιτης/κανανιτην (Canaanite) used by Matthew and Mark, both of which are names of a Jewish sect.[ii] The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown commentary says, “The word ‘Kananite’ is just the Aramaic, or Syro-Chaldaic, term for ‘Zealot’.”

Some have understood that this Simon was a Canaanite in the sense of either from the land of Canaan or from Cana in Galilee. Albert Barnes writes, “His native place was probably ‘Cana.’ Afterward he might with propriety be called by either title.” [That is, either Canaanite or Zelotes, rlv.] Jerome also thought this Simon was from Cana, writing, “He was surnamed Peter to distinguish him from another Simon who is called the Cananean, from the village of Cana of Galilee, where the Lord turned water into wine.”[iii]

Matthew 10:4 and Mark 3:18 in the Traditional Text form have κανανιτης and κανανιτην, respectively. Eclectic texts such as Westcott-Hort, Tyndale House, and UBS have καναναιος and καναναιον. Older versions based on eclectic texts (e.g., RV, ASV, and RSV) translated this “Cananaean,” while modern versions such as CSB, ESV, LEB, and NIV translate (interpret) it as Zealot. Zelotes is ζηλωτην/ζηλωτης, found in Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13.

Though not explicitly stated, it seems likely all of the twelve apostles were Jews. Jesus initially sent the twelve (of whom Simon was one) neither “into the way of the Gentiles” nor “into any city of the Samaritans” but rather “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” This, in my opinion, makes it unlikely that one of the twelve was a Gentile. At least to the understanding of the gathered crowd on the Pentecost after Christ’s resurrection, the disciples were “all Galilæans” (Acts 2:7).

There is a noticeable difference in the Greek spelling in κανανιτης (Canaanite) in the Gospels, to χανααν (Canaan) and χαναναιοι/χανανεις/χαναναιους (Canaanite) in reference to a location and people. The word Canaanite in the Gospels starts with the Greek letter kappa (κ) and the land of Canaan starts with the Greek letter chi (χ). This may not be definitive – since words can have more than one spelling – but it is at least a clue that the words are different (a difference that does not show up in English).[iv]

My conclusion is that ζηλωτης and κανανιτης have the same meaning. Matthew and Mark use the Syriac term, while Luke uses the Greek term, meaning “zealous” or “zealot”. “Canaanite” is a proper word, a good translation (for example, “Zealot” in the CSB, ESV, LEB, and NIV is more of an interpretation), somewhat of a transliteration, and part of the ongoing English translation tradition leading up to the King James Bible.[v] It is best to be satisfied that it means “zealous” or “zealot”[vi] and remain uncertain whether Simon was a member of the Jewish sect called Zealots – since it is an historical question whether Jews were identified by that name as early as the time Jesus ordained his apostles.[vii]

Other comments

• John Gill: “The former of these is called Simon the Canaanite, to distinguish him from Simon Peter, before mentioned; not that he was a Canaanite, that is, an inhabitant of the land of Canaan, a man of Canaan, as a certain woman is called a woman of Canaan, (Matthew 15:22) for all the disciples of Christ were Jews; though in Munster's Hebrew Gospel he is called (ynenkh Nwemv), ‘Simeon the Canaanite’, or of Canaan, as if he belonged to that country; nor is he so called from Cana of Galilee, as Jerom and others have thought; but he was one of the (Myanq) , ‘Kanaim’, or ‘Zealots’; and therefore Luke styles him, ‘Simon called Zelotes’, (Luke 6:15) (Acts 1:13).”
• Matthew Poole: “We must not understand by Canaanite a pagan, (for Christ sent out none but Jews), but one of Cana, which by interpretation is Zelus, from whence it is that Luke calleth him Zelotes.”
• Matthew Henry: “Simon is called the Canaanite, or rather the Canite, from Cana of Galilee, where probably he was born; or Simon the Zealot, which some make to be the signification of Kananites.”
• Expositor’s Greek Testament: “The form Καναναῖος seems to be based on the idea that the word referred to a place. Jerome took it to mean ‘of Cana,’ ‘de vico Chana Galilaeae’.”
• Adam Clarke: “The Canaanite—This word is not put here to signify a particular people, as it is elsewhere used in the Sacred Writings; but it is formed from the Hebrew קנא kana, which signifies zealous, literally translated by Luke, Luke 6:15, ζηλωτης, zelotes, or the zealous, probably from his great fervency in preaching the Gospel of his Master.”
• Vincent’s Word Studies: “The Canaanite (ὁ Καναναιος) Rev., Cananaean. The word has nothing to do with Canaan. In Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13, the same apostle is called Zelotes. Both terms indicate his connection with the Galilaean Zealot party, a sect which stood for the recovery of Jewish freedom and the maintenance of distinctive Jewish institutions. From the Hebrew kanná, zealous; compare the Chaldee kanán, by which this sect was denoted.”

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[i] Using the “nickname” of “surname” of “the Zealot” or “the Canaanite” likely was one way to help distinguish this Simon from the other Simon, called Peter.
[ii] Many students of the language believe κανανιτης etymologically comes from the Syriac/Aramaic word qan’an, meaning “zealous one.”
[iii] Commentary on Matthew, St. Jerome, Translated by Thomas P. Scheck, Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2008, p. 115.
[iv] On the other hand, in Greek the city of Cana in Galilee is spelled beginning with a kappa. Cana = κανα.
[v] Simon Chananæus and Simonem Cananæum (Latin Vulgate), Simon Chananeus and Simonem Chananeum (Anglo-Saxon Gospels, circa 700-900), Symount Chananee and Symount Cananee (1382 Wycliffe Bible), Simon off cane and Symon of cane (1526 Tyndale NT), Simon of Canan and Simon of Cane (1557 Geneva NT), Simon the Cananite and Simon the Cananite (Geneva 1560; with the note: Or, the zealous/zealous), Simon [the] Cananite and Simon Cananite (Bishops Bible), Simon the Chanaanite and Simon the Chanaanite (1602 Bishops Bible), Simon the Canaanite and Simon the Canaanite (1611 Barker King James Bible). I include the Latin Vulgate since the Anglo-Saxon Gospels and the Wycliffe Bible is translated from it rather than from the Greek.
[vi] “Showing great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or objective” and “a person who is enthusiastic, fanatical, and/or uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals.”
[vii] In the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (1992), David Rhoads writes, “The evidence from Josephus suggests that it was not until about 68 C.E. during the Roman-Judean War that one of the revolutionary factions came to identify itself formally as the Zealots. Therefore, it is anachronistic to view people acting with zeal before 68 C.E. as members of a sect called the Zealots.”