This is a work of fiction. While it takes its inspiration from the figure who has come down to us as Jesus Christ, it does not purport to be an accurate historical representation of that figure. At the same time, I have made every effort to work within the bounds of historical plausibility, based on what is known to us of the time and place in which Jesus lived. In my research I have drawn on many sources, including the work of the Jesus Seminar and of other contemporary scholars who have tried to arrive at an understanding of the historical Jesus.
In the case of one of my characters, I have repeated an error that initially entered the Jesus tradition through the mistranslation of the Greek “simon kananites” as “Simon the Canaanite” rather than “Simon the Zealot.” In the novel, the character appears as both. I chose to retain the error since it seemed a way of entering a greater truth about the Galilee of that time, its cultural heterogeneity.
For their help with this book, I am deeply indebted to Erika de Vasconcelos, Don Melady, Anne McDermid, Maya Mavjee, and Martha Kanya-Forstner.