Simon II (219–199 BCE) was a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish High Priest during the Second Temple period. He was the son of

Onias II Onias II (Hebrew: חוֹנִיּוֹ ''Ḥōniyyō'' or ''Honio'' or ''Honiyya ben Shimon''; Greek: ''Onias Simonides'') was the son of Simon I. He was still a minor when his father died, so that his uncle Eleazar, and after him the latter's uncle ...

. Some identify him with

Simeon the Just Simeon the Righteous or Simeon the Just ( he, שִׁמְעוֹן הַצַדִּיק ''Šīməʿōn haṢadīq'') was a Jewish High Priest during the Second Temple period. He is also referred to in the Mishnah, where he is described as one of the la ...

. Mentioned extensively by Jesus son of Eleazar, son of Sirach of Jerusalem, also known as Ben Sira, in chapter 50 of Ben Sira/Sirach in a hymn of Hebrew parallel verse: "The leader of his brothers and the pride of his people was the high priest, Simon son of Onias, who in his life repaired the house, and in his time fortified the temple. He laid the foundations for the high double walls, the high retaining walls for the temple enclosure. In his days a water cistern was dug, a reservoir like the sea in circumference. He considered how to save his people from ruin, and fortified the city against siege. How glorious he was, surrounded by the people, as he came out of the house of the curtain. Like the morning star upon the clouds, like the full moon at the festal season, like the sun shining on the temple of the Most High, like the rainbow gleaming in splendid clouds..." ( Ben Sira/Sirach 50:1-7, NRSV translation ). The chapter continues to describe a festival led by the High Priest Simon II and the celebrations of the people of Jerusalem. Ben Sira was a contemporary of Simon II, and this description of him comes after a long versified walk through the traditions and revered ancestors of the Jewish people. He is the last leader or ancestor mentioned, and clearly was highly revered by Ben Sira. Simon is also mentioned in

3 Maccabees 3 Maccabees, el, Μακκαβαίων Γ´, translit=Makkabaíōn 3 also called the Third Book of Maccabees, is a book written in Koine Greek, likely in the 1st century BC in Roman Egypt. Despite the title, the book has nothing to do with the Macc ...

, chapter 2.

Patrilineal ancestry

References

* Josephus ("Antiquities") (xii. 4, § 10) 3rd-century BCE High Priests of Israel 2nd-century BCE High Priests of Israel {{Judaism-bio-stub