[2] According to Eusebius, Simeon of Jerusalem was selected as James' successor after the conquest of Jerusalem which took place immediately after the martyrdom of James (i.e. no later than 70 AD) which puts the account in agreement with that of Flavius Josephus, who puts James' first arrest and subsequent release by Procurator Lucceius Albinus in 63 AD[3][4] and the modern footnotes show that his martyrdom took place some years afterwards, shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem.

They all with one consent pronounced Symeon, the son of Clopas, of whom the Gospel also makes mention; to be worthy of the episcopal throne of that parish.

[5]According to Hegesippus,[6] Simeon prevailed against Thebutis, whom the church fathers deemed a heresiarch,[7] and led most of the Christians to Pella before the outbreak of the First Jewish–Roman War in 66 and the destruction of Herod's Temple in 70.

According to Eusebius, Simeon was executed about the year 107 or 117 under the reign of emperor Trajan by the proconsul Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes in Jerusalem or the vicinity.

Simeon is sometimes identified with Simon, the "brother of the Lord", who is mentioned in passing in the Bible (Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3) and pointing to Hegesippus referring to him as the second bishop of Jerusalem and as a cousin of Jesus.