Person New Testament
Simon of Cyrene
Also known as Simon
Simon of Cyrene was a man from North Africa who was coming in from the country as Jesus was led out to be crucified. The soldiers compelled him to carry the cross behind Jesus. Mark names his sons, Alexander and Rufus, as though known to his readers.
Why it matters. Simon is the one person who literally carried the cross after Jesus, and the three Synoptics record him by name at the moment the Passion moves from the city to Golgotha.
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
Connections
Simon of Cyrene participates in The crucifixion of Jesus
Explicit in ScriptureHigh confidenceSimon of Cyrene is compelled to carry the cross on the way to Golgotha.
Evidence:
Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
Appears in Scripture
Named in 3 verses across 3 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.