Acts 2:10

2:10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, ¹  and visitors from Rome, ² 

Acts 11:20

11:20 But there were some men from Cyprus ³  and Cyrene ⁴  among them who came ⁵  to Antioch ⁶  and began to speak to the Greeks ⁷  too, proclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus.

Acts 13:1

The Church at Antioch Commissions Barnabas and Saul

13:1 Now there were these prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch: ⁸  Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, ⁹  Lucius the Cyrenian, ¹⁰  Manaen (a close friend of Herod ¹¹  the tetrarch ¹²  from childhood ¹³ ) and Saul.

Matthew 27:32

The Crucifixion

27:32 As ¹⁴  they were going out, they found a man from Cyrene named Simon, whom they forced ¹⁵  to carry his cross. ¹⁶ 

[2:10]  ¹ tn According to BDAG 595 s.v. Λιβύη, the western part of Libya, Libya Cyrenaica, is referred to here (see also Josephus, Ant. 16.6.1 [16.160] for a similar phrase).

[2:10]  ² map For location see JP4 A1.

[11:20]  ³ sn Cyprus was a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.

[11:20]  ⁴ sn Cyrene was a city on the northern African coast west of Egypt.

[11:20]  ⁵ tn Grk “among them, coming to Antioch began to speak.” The participle ἐλθόντες (elqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[11:20]  ⁶ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19.

[11:20]  ⁷ sn The statement that some men from Cyprus and Cyrene…began to speak to the Greeks shows that Peter’s experience of reaching out to the Gentiles was not unique.

[13:1]  ⁸ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

[13:1]  ⁹ sn Simeon may well have been from North Africa, since the Latin loanword Niger refers to someone as “dark-complexioned.”

[13:1]  ¹⁰ sn The Cyrenian refers to a native of the city of Cyrene, on the coast of northern Africa west of Egypt.

[13:1]  ¹¹ sn Herod is generally taken as a reference to Herod Antipas, who governed Galilee from 4 b.c. to a.d. 39, who had John the Baptist beheaded, and who is mentioned a number of times in the gospels.

[13:1]  ¹² tn Or “the governor.”

[13:1]  ¹³ tn Or “(a foster brother of Herod the tetrarch).” The meaning “close friend from childhood” is given by L&N 34.15, but the word can also mean “foster brother” (L&N 10.51). BDAG 976 s.v. σύντροφας states, “pert. to being brought up with someone, either as a foster-brother or as a companion/friend,” which covers both alternatives. Context does not given enough information to be certain which is the case here, although many modern translations prefer the meaning “close friend from childhood.”

[27:32]  ¹⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[27:32]  ¹⁵ tn Or “conscripted”; or “pressed into service.”

[27:32]  ¹⁶ sn Jesus was beaten severely with a whip before this (the prelude to crucifixion, known to the Romans as verberatio, mentioned in Matt 27:26; Mark 15:15; John 19:1), so he would have been weak from trauma and loss of blood. Apparently he was unable to bear the cross himself, so Simon was conscripted to help (in all probability this was only the crossbeam, called in Latin the patibulum, since the upright beam usually remained in the ground at the place of execution). Cyrene was located in North Africa where Tripoli is today. Nothing more is known about this Simon. Mark 15:21 names him as father of two people apparently known to Mark’s audience.