SIMON THE BLACK (Niger). — A Christian named among the “prophets and teachers” of the Church of Antioch, together with Barnabas and Saul (Acts 13:1). The nickname “Black” must have been given him on account of his skin colour; his name seems to indicate a Jewish origin.
Recently the hypothesis has been advanced (S. Giet) that the Symeon who spoke at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:14) was not Peter (referred to in V. 7), but this S. the “Black.” The hypothesis, which rests on a sporadic tradition of the 4th century in Antioch (recorded by Chrysostom, who seems to accept it: PG 60, 239), is of little probability.
Bibl.: S. Giet, L'assemblée apostolique et le décret de Jérusalem, in Rech. de science relig., 38 (1951), pp. 203–20 (cf. Verb. Dom., 30 [1952], pp. 170 ff.).