Zenas the Lawyer

Saint Zenas the Lawyer, apostle, is one of the Seventy Apostles, a disciple and collaborator of the Apostle Paul, mentioned in the Epistle to Titus. He is commemorated (Old Style) on 27 September and on 4 January, in the synaxis of the Seventy Apostles; in the Roman Catholic Church on 14 April. Of his life we have no other news than this mention and later tradition.

In the New Testament

In the Epistle to Titus 3:13 Paul writes: "Send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way diligently, so that nothing be lacking for them". The name Zenas is the shortened form of Zenodoros, "gift of Zeus". From Paul's words the apostle received the name "Zenas the lawyer". His mention in the epistle shows that he preached together with Titus on Crete. About his profession scholars do not agree: the Greek word can mean an expert in either Jewish or Roman law. Those who regard him as an expert in Jewish law point to other uses of the word in the New Testament, his link with Apollos (a Jew who became a Christian) and the use of the related word for "Law" (the Law of Moses) earlier in the epistle; others oppose, pointing to uses outside the Bible and Paul's attitude toward experts in the Law in his other epistles. It is possible that Paul mentions his profession only to distinguish him from another Zenas.

Tradition

By tradition he is counted one of the unnamed Seventy disciples sent out by Jesus to the villages of Galilee (Luke 10). According to a Life composed later he was bishop of Lydda (the ancient Diospolis); according to the Orthodox synaxarion, bishop of Laodicea, according to the Greek source. It has been suggested that he was the first bishop of Lydda and the author of the "Acts of Titus"; some have claimed that he is also mentioned in the apocryphal "Acts of Paul", under the name Zenon, son of Onesiphorus.