Simon the Leper (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Σίμων ὁ λεπρός, ''Símōn ho leprós'') is a biblical figure who lived in Bethany, a village in

Judaea Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous so ...

on the southeastern slope of the

Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet ( he, הַר הַזֵּיתִים, Har ha-Zeitim; ar, جبل الزيتون, Jabal az-Zaytūn; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jeru ...

. He is mentioned in the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

s according to Matthew and Mark. These books tell of how

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

made a visit to the house of Simon the Leper at Bethany during the course of which a woman anoints the head of Jesus with costly ointment. Bethany was also the home of

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

Martha Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא‎) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness ...

, and Lazarus.

Biblical accounts

The Gospel according to

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

recounts an episode with many similarities. John reports that Jesus attended a dinner where Lazarus reclined at the table with Jesus, and where Martha served the guests. According to John's Gospel, Jesus arrived in Bethany six days before

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or spring. ...

, and while there, a dinner was given in His honor. John does not say when or by whom this dinner was given. According to John's Gospel, Mary anointed Jesus' toes. Matthew and John report that Judas Iscariot and other disciples of Jesus were in attendance and protested the costly anointing of Jesus.

Identification

Simon the Leper is sometimes identified with Simon the Pharisee (see Shimon ben Gamliel), who is mentioned in the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-vol ...

as the host of a meal during which the feet of Jesus are anointed by a penitent woman. Because of some similarities, efforts have been made to reconcile the events and characters, but some scholars have pointed out differences between the two events. An alternative explanation for the similarities is that the Luke 7 anointing and the anointing at Bethany happened with some of the same participants, but several years apart. Simon the Leper is also sometimes identified as the same person as Lazarus of Bethany, or identified as his father or brother. This is because Matthew and Mark mention Simon, while John mentions Lazarus, but all four gospels assume one lodging at Bethany during the last week.

Abbé Drioux Abbé Claude-Joseph Drioux (17 February 1820 – 13 May 1898) was a French priest, popular educator, cartographer, geographer, historian, and religious writer. Drioux was born 17 February 1820 at Bourdons, Haute-Marne. He was first priest, then p ...

identified all three as one: Lazarus of Bethany, Simon the Leper of Bethany, and the Lazarus of the parable, on the basis that in the parable Lazarus is depicted as a leper, and due to a perceived coincidence between and —where after the raising of Lazarus,

Caiaphas Joseph ben Caiaphas (; c. 14 BC – c. 46 AD), known simply as Caiaphas (; grc-x-koine, Καϊάφας, Kaïáphas ) in the New Testament, was the Jewish high priest who, according to the gospels, organized a plot to kill Jesus. He famous ...

and

Annas Annas (also Ananus or Ananias;Goodman, Martin, "Rome & Jerusalem", Penguin Books, p.12 (2007) , ; grc-x-koine, Ἅννας, ; 23/22 BC – death date unknown, probably around AD 40) was appointed by the Roman legate Quirinius as the first High ...

tried to have him killed. A medieval legend identifies Simon with Bishop Julian of Le Mans, despite the fact that Julian lived much later.Kosloski, Philip. "Did the leper Jesus cured become a bishop in France?", ''Aleteia'', January 29, 2019
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References

External links

{{New Testament people Saints from the Holy Land Followers of Jesus People in the canonical gospels