Simon Giora aspiring to be a Messiah King
by Damien F. Mackey “Josephus relates that Simeon suddenly appeared among the Temple ruins, as though out of the bowels of the earth, dressed in white and covered with a purple mantle. At the sight of him the Romans were terrified, but after recovering from their fear, bound him in chains. His strange appearance was probably connected with messianic expectations on his part …”. Simeon Bar Giora | Jewish Virtual Library Simeon Bar Giora (D. 70 C.E.) BAR GIORA, SIMEON , Jewish military leader in the war against Rome (66–70 C.E.). Simeon was born, according to Josephus, in *Gerasa, a large Hellenistic city in Transjordan, where the Jews lived in peace with the city's non-Jewish population. Some scholars, however, identify his birthplace with the village of Jerash in the neighborhood of Hartuv (Press, Ere αΊ“ , 1 (1951 2 ), 174, S.V. Geresh ), others with Kefar Jorish near Shechem on the grounds tha...