Greek form of a Hebrew and Aramaic name meaning "God has heard." Nine men in the New Testament had this name:
Son of Jona (Matthew 16:17) or John (John 1:42), Andrew’s brother (verse 40). He was given a second name directly by Jesus, who called him Cephas or Peter (both mean "rock," in Aramaic or Greek, verse 42). A fisherman from Bethsaida (Mark 1:16; John 1:44), Simon became an apostle of Jesus and author of two New Testament letters. See Peter, The Apostle.
Brother of Jesus, named with other brothers, James, Joses or Joseph, and Judas (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3).
A leper who may have been cured by Jesus. Jesus and his disciples were eating at Simon's house in Bethany when a woman poured an alabaster flask of costly ointment on the Lord’s head. The disciples objected against the waste of a luxury item that could have been sold to support the poor. But Jesus commended the act as a wonderful thing (Matthew 26:6–13; Mark 14:3–9). From John 12:1–8 it seems that Simon’s house was also where Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived. Their relationship to Simon is not specified.
A man from Cyrene, a district of North Africa. The Romans forced Simon to carry Jesus’s cross (Matthew 27:32; Mark 15:21; Luke 23:26). He was the father of Alexander and Rufus (Mark 15:21; compare Romans 16:13).
An apostle of Jesus who was called a Zealot (Luke 6:15). This Simon was possibly connected with political extremists who opposed Roman occupation. Or he might have been part of a number of Jewish groups noted for their zeal for the law. In Matthew 10:4 and Mark 3:18 he is designated the "Cananaean" (Revised Standard Version). This name is connected to the Aramaic word for "zealot." He is mentioned again in Acts 1:13 as one of the 11 apostles in Jerusalem after Jesus’s ascension. Otherwise, the New Testament is silent about him.
A pharisee whose treatment of Jesus prompted the parable of the two debtors (Luke 7:36–50). Simon invited Jesus to eat at his house but did not offer the common customs of welcome for guests. Simon disapproved of Jesus’s acceptance of a "sinner" woman who interrupted the dinner. She wet Jesus's feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, and anointed them with ointment from an alabaster flask. Jesus’s parable showed the woman’s act of loving and repentant faith in contrast to Simon’s unloving and self-righteous skepticism.
The father of Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus in Gethsemane (John 6:71; 13:2, 26).
A magician (often called Simon Magus) from Samaria. Impressed by the signs and miracles performed by Philip, Simon Magus joined the crowd of baptized believers. He offered Peter and John money in exchange for the gift of the Holy Spirit. This request provoked Peter’s rebuke (Acts 8:9–24). The old English word "simony" comes from this story. Simony refers to the sale or purchase of church positions or sacred things.
A tanner from Joppa. A tanner is someone who treats animal skins and hides to produce leather. Peter stayed at his house for many days (Acts 9:43; 10:6, 17, 32). On Simon’s roof, Peter had the vision of a great sheet let down from heaven, containing animals and birds banned as food in Jewish law (10:15). Peter later recognized this vision as a preparation for preaching the gospel to the gentiles (verses 28–29).