As the Greeks expanded their empire, they employed their mythology in the naming of new cities. Cyrene was named after Kyrene, the daughter of the Thessalian king, Hypseus, and a water nymph. Cyrene contained a number of Jewish settlers, and it is listed among the nations with representatives in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Deut. 21:22-23Acts 2:10).
The Bible is not definitive about his race, and while Simon may have been African, he could have been a transplanted Jew or of some other descent. Most believe that if he had come to Jerusalem, for the Passover, he was either an ethnic Jew, or a convert.
Simon of Cyrene is mentioned by name in only three passages of Scripture: Matthew 27:32, Mark 15:21, and Luke 23:26). In Matthew, it is said, “they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry the cross.”Mark’s Gospel states, “they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry His cross.” Luke says, “And as they led Him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.”
Matthew and Mark say Simon “was compelled” to carry the cross, while Luke says Simon “was seized” and had the cross laid on him. In each account, Simon is pressed into service, making it clear that he did not volunteer. The fact that the soldiers pressed a man into service speaks to Jesus’ extremely weakened state. The soldiers had orders to get Jesus to Golgotha and face crucifixion and death. It’s possible that in His beaten state, Christ looked as though he was ready to expire. The soldiers were expected to carry out their orders, and not let one of the men scheduled for crucifixion die before their duties were completed.
Scripture makes no direct mention of Simon of Cyrene after the Resurrection. Tradition states Simon went to Egypt and shared the Gospel. After that, according to the apocryphal Acts of Simon and Judas, Simon was martyred in 100 A.D by being cut in half with a saw.
Cyrenians, however, are mentioned in Acts 6:9. They are of the group who disputed with Stephen as he did “great wonders and signs among the people” (Acts 6:8). Since Scripture makes no direct reference to Simon, we cannot assume he was in that same gathering.
Mark’s Gospel states Simon sired two sons named Rufus and Alexander. Whether they were with Simon is unknown. Whether the Rufus mentioned in Romans 16:13 or the Alexander cited in 1 Timothy 1:20 or 2 Timothy 4:14 are Simon’s sons, is also unknown. However, Mark's reference to their names does make one wonder if these could in fact, be the sons of Simon.
