Simon of Peraea


Simon of Peraea or Simon son of Joseph was a former slave of Herod the Great who rebelled and was killed by the Romans some time after Herod's death in 4 BC. Some have identified him as possibly being the messiah of Gabriel's Revelation, but this is disputed. He is mentioned by Josephus and Tacitus.

History

According to Josephus:

Messiah claim

A tablet, known as the Gabriel's Revelation or the Jeselsohn Stone, was likely found near the Dead Sea some time around the year 2000. It has been associated with the same community which created the Dead Sea scrolls, but does not mention Simon. Israel Knohl formerly read the inscription as a command from the angel Gabriel "to rise from the dead within three days". He took this command to be directed at a 1st-century Jewish rebel called Simon, who was killed by the Romans in 4 BC. Knohl believed that the finding "calls for a complete reassessment of all previous scholarship on the subject of messianism, Jewish and Christian alike". In 2009 the National Geographic Channel aired The First Jesus? which addressed the claims and controversy.
Knohl has eventually abandoned this reading, in favor of Ronald Hendel's reading : "By three days the sign". He still maintains the historical background of the inscription to be as mentioned above. He now views Simon's death, according to the inscription, as "an essential part of the redemptive process. The blood of the slain messiah paves the way for the final salvation".
According to Livius.org, "Simon of Peraea may have 'put a diadem on his head', and his men must have created sufficient trouble to make the Romans send in the legions, but there are no indications that he was considered the Messiah."
Christians interpret the stone not as referring to Simon of Peraea or any other messianic figure, but as part of the flood of prophetic revelations that accompanied the fervent messianic hope that was present in the first century. This is seen to them as tantamount to further evidence for the expected resurrection of the messiah.