Simeon, son of Gamaliel
Son of the great Rabbi Gamaliel and a Sanhedrist like him. He is a rather reserved character who often keeps his opinion to himself. He is therefore not the orator that his father is. This attitude surrounds him with a certain ambiguity. However, he rises in indignation at the trial of Jesus and leaves the session in the company of his father.[1]
Character and appearance
About thirty-five years old.
Apostolic journey
Appreciating Lazarus[2], he seems open to the words of Jesus:"You rightly said: Persecuting a Doctrine means increasing its strength" and I noticed, because I never took my eyes off him, that the son of Gamaliel was nodding in approval while you said it".[3]He seems under the influence of his father whom he accompanies in his process of conversion after the Passion[4].
His name
Simon, like Simeon (Chimon- Shim'ôn), means "he who hears". Historical reference: the second son of Jacob who was held hostage by his brother Joseph, who had become Pharaoh's steward.
Where is he mentioned in the work?
EMV 378 EMV 379
EMV 546 EMV 548 EMV 588 EMV 598
EMV 604 EMV 644
Learn more about this character
Christian sources
Bishops A. and J. Lemann, converted Jews, in "The Value of the Assembly that Pronounced the Death Sentence Against Jesus Christ" (1877), present the son of the Elder Gamaliel as follows:"He sat as his father did in the Sanhedrin. Rabbinic books speak highly of him. The Mishnah, for example, attributes this saying to him: "Raised since my birth among the scholars, I have found nothing better for man than silence. Doctrine is not the main thing, but the work. He who habitually speaks too much easily falls into error."Simon did not follow his father's example, and did not embrace Christianity. On the contrary, he became the close friend of the infamous bandit John of Giscala, whose cruelty and excesses against the Romans and even the Jews forced Titus to order the sack of Jerusalem. Simon was killed in the last assault, in the year 70."
Jewish sources
A Jewish tradition reports that Emperor Hadrian cruelly killed ten great sages of Jewish tradition called the "ten murdered of the king" (Âssara harougué malkhoute), among whom was a certain "Rabbi Simeon ben Gamliel". This cannot be the same person.[5]