Biography
Simeon of Jerusalem
About Simeon of Jerusalem
Eusebius names Symeon as Jerusalem’s second bishop.
Simeon is remembered as the successor of James in the Jerusalem church and as a relative of Jesus. The earliest personal account comes from Hegesippus, writing in the second century, whose work survives in quotations and summaries by Eusebius. The Orthodox Encyclopedia traces this evidence and distinguishes it from later elaborations. The tradition names his father as Clopas, although later writers give conflicting accounts of his precise kinship with Jesus.
The Orthodox Church in America’s received account describes his election after James’s death, an accusation that he was both a Christian and a descendant of David, and his execution by crucifixion under Trajan. It remembers his endurance through several days of torture.
His reported age of 120 is not secure biographical chronology. Petrov notes that the number may express a biblical pattern of righteous longevity. The dates and family relationships in later traditions vary, and the surviving short Lives largely retell the earlier material.
The Orthodox Church in America commemorates him on 27 April and also notes a September commemoration in some calendars. Its liturgical title preserves his memory as a bishop, martyr and kinsman of the Lord.
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