SIMON II. -

High priest contemporary with Jesus ben Sira, who describes him in his book (Sir. 50:1-24). He is called the son of Onias (Flavius Josephus, Antiq. Iud., XII, 225), but the name Onias is perhaps only an abbreviated or diminutive form of Jôhânân, as the Hebrew text has it.

To S. are attributed the restoration and fortification of the Temple, the digging of a capacious cistern, the rebuilding and repair of the walls of Jerusalem. Ben Sira describes with vivid colors and enthusiasm his conduct during the solemn functions li-

turgid. With a certain elasticity, the years 219-199 B.C. are assigned to the high priesthood of S. He participated on behalf of the Tobiads (v.) who had taken refuge in Jerusalem after the break with their half-brother Hyrcanus (Flavius Josephus, loc. cit., 229). S. was succeeded by his son Onias III (2 Macc. 3:1 ff.).

S., confused with his grandfather of the same name called "the Just" (Flavius Josephus, loc. cit., 43), remained famous in rabbinic tradition, which made him the protagonist of not a few legendary and sometimes fantastic tales. In the treatise 'Abhoth (I, 2) there is attributed to him, among other things, the fine phrase: "The world is based on three things: the law, divine service and the practice of justice," which sums up the most sublime ideal of Judaism in the last period of the Old Testament.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: A. Ingold, Simon, in DB. V, coll. 1737-38; S. Ochsner, Simon the Just, in Jew. Enc., XI, pp. 352-54.

Angelo Penna

@incollection{ec11_simone_ii, author = {Penna, Angelo}, title = {Simone II}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XI}, pages = {632--633}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1953}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/simone-ii} }

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Simon II

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