the Zealot: Zealots were militant Jews who believed violence and war could achieve God's will. As a Jewish nationalist, Simon was probably passionate about the law (Acts 22:3–5; Galatians 1:14; Philippians 3:6). The Jewish historian Josephus blamed the Zealot party for the major war with Rome from AD 66–70.
Iscariot might refer to someone from Kerioth in southern Judea (Joshua 15:25) or from Kerioth in Perea (Jeremiah 48:24).