Simon the Tanner
Ask about Simon the Tanner
Simon the tanner lived in Joppa in a house 'by the sea side.' Peter stayed with him 'many days' after raising Dorcas, and it was on the housetop there that Peter saw the vision of the great sheet let down from heaven, filled with clean and unclean animals. While Peter was still puzzling over it, messengers from the centurion Cornelius arrived at Simon's gate, having been told by an angel exactly where to find him. Tanners worked with the hides of dead animals, a trade many Jews regarded as unclean, so Peter's choice of lodging may already hint at the lesson of the vision.
Biography
- Occupation
- Tanner
- Era
- New Testament (Acts)
Did You Know?
The angel gave Cornelius Simon's address with unusual precision, 'one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side' (Acts 10:6), and Cornelius repeats it when he tells Peter the story (Acts 10:32).
Tanning involved soaking hides and handling the bodies of dead animals, and later rabbinic writings treat it as a despised trade.
Peter's vision on Simon's housetop came 'about the sixth hour' while he was waiting for a meal (Acts 10:9-10), and the Gentile messengers reached the gate before he had finished pondering it.
Key Chapters
Key Passages
Many Days in Joppa
Acts 9:43
Peter settles in the home of a man whose trade kept him on the margins of ritual purity, an early sign of the barriers God was about to remove.
43nd it came to pass, that he tarried many days in Joppa with one Simon a tanner.
His House by the Sea Side
Acts 10:5-6
An angel gives Cornelius Simon's address with precision, showing God directing the meeting of Jew and Gentile down to the street.
5nd now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:
Messengers at the Gate
Acts 10:17-18
The Gentile messengers arrive at Simon's door at the very moment Peter is pondering the vision.
17ow while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made enquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate,
