Re: Simon of Bethany

From: George Athas (gathas@mail.usyd.edu.au)
Date: Tue May 05 1998 - 20:05:58 EDT


Hi Steven!

As Jack mentioned, Lazar is a contraction of the longer El`azar. It does
not stem from a semitic root LZR. It comes from El ("God") + `azar
("helps").

It is quite a good possiblity that Simon the Leper was Lazarus' father.
However, he could have been dead or out in a leper colony while his
children (who weren't lepers) lived back in the house where Jesus dined.

Another possiblity is that "Leper" is a nickname for Simon, not an
adjective describing his medical condition. Since perfume-ointment is
prominent in the narrative, Simon may have been called "the Leper"
because he was a perfume-ointment maker (hence the nerd in his house)
and lepers needed his products as balms. (Remember that "leprosy" is a
term for any skin disease, not necessarily the flesh-eating disease.)
This would see Simon as a "leper" by association, not condition.

The other Jar-maker suggestion is good, too.

Best regards!
George Athas
 PhD (Cand.), University of Sydney
 Tutor of Hebrew, Moore Theological College
Phone: 0414 839 964 ICQ#: 5866591
Email: gathas@mail.usyd.edu.au
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Visit the Tel Dan Inscription Website at
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