And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian
(See Gill on Matthew 27:32);
who passed by;
as they were leading Jesus to be crucified:
coming out of the country;
from some country village hard by, according to the Syriac, and Vulgate Latin versions; or out of the field, as the Persic and Ethiopic: he might have been in the field, about some rural business; or, as Dr. Lightfoot conjectures, to fetch wood from thence, which was lawful to be done on a feast day, with some provisos, according to the Jewish canon, which runs thus {t};
``they may bring wood out of the field, (i.e. on a feast day, as this was,) of that which is gathered together, and out of a place that is fenced about, and even of that which is scattered abroad: what is a fenced place? whatever is near to a city, the words of R. Judah. R. Jose says, whatever they go into by a door, and even within the border of the sabbath.''And according to the commentators F21, it must be wood that is gathered together, and that lies not in an open field, but in a fenced place, and this near the city; at least with in two thousand cubits, a sabbath day's journey.
The father of Alexander and Rufus;
who were men well known when Mark wrote his Gospel, and very likely men of eminence among Christians: mention is made of Alexander in ( Acts 19:33 ) and of Rufus, in ( Romans 16:13 ) , which some have thought the same as here; but whether they are or not, is not certain: however, they obliged "Simon"
to bear his cross:
the cross of Christ, after him; (See Gill on Matthew 27:32).