SIMONE, APOSTLE, saint - St. SIMONE with the instrument of martyrdom. Miniature by André Beauneveu. Psalter of the Duke of Berry (late 14th century) - Paris, Bibl. naz. ms. franc. 13091, f. 26.
liturgical. With some latitude, the years 219-199 B.C. are assigned to S.’s high priesthood. He intervened on behalf of the Tobiads (v.), who had taken refuge in Jerusalem after breaking with their half-brother Ircano (Flavio Giuseppe, loc. cit., 229). S. was succeeded by his son Onia III (II Mach. 3, 1 ff.).
S., confused with his namesake grandfather called “the Just” (Flavio Giuseppe, loc. cit., 43), remained famous in rabbinic tradition, which made him the protagonist of numerous legendary and sometimes fantastic tales. In the treatise 'Abhôth (I, 2) there is attributed to him, among other things, the fine saying: “The world is founded upon three things: the law, divine service, and the practice of justice,” which epitomizes the most sublime ideal of Judaism in the final period of the Old Testament.