Tool Beta
The Ancient World Behind the Text
Pick a passage anywhere in the New Testament. See the customs and ideas a first reader knew without being told.
Luke 5:1-11, A catch that breaks the nets
Jesus teaches from Simon's boat, then tells the tired fishermen to let down their nets in deep water. The catch nearly sinks two boats, and Simon, James and John leave everything to follow him.
Luke 5:1-11, in every translation this tool compares.
Jesus teaches the crowd at the lake from Simon's boat, then tells the tired fisherman, who has caught nothing all night, to head further out and try again. The haul is so large that the nets start to split and a second boat is needed, and both boats ride dangerously low. Simon drops to his knees and confesses that he is a sinner, and Jesus tells him that from now on he will gather people; Simon and his partners abandon everything to go with him.
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- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/fishing-trade\/","n":"Fishing on the lake","s":"Fishing was a real business on the lake of Galilee: boats, costly nets, partnerships between families, work through the night and fish sold in the morning. Fishermen did better than most peasants.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/following-a-teacher\/","n":"Following a teacher","s":"A disciple walked behind his teacher, lived with him, learned his ways and carried his reputation. Jesus chose his own, which only radical teachers did.","r":""}
The shore worked like an amphitheater, and a cove near Capernaum could carry a voice to a large crowd, so speaking from a boat a little offshore made Jesus easier to hear (Keener and his notes). Keener notes that a fisherman might trust a rabbi on religion but had no need to in his own trade, which makes Simon's obedience stand out. Bailey reads the scene as Jesus asking tired fishermen for help before offering them anything: he needs their boat. Simon's cry recalls Isaiah's response to God's holiness at his call (Isaiah 6:5; Keener's notes). Leaving the business cost them a better than average living (Keener). Luke calls the water a lake, as Josephus does, where Matthew and Mark say sea, and a first-century fishing boat has been excavated near Kibbutz Ginosar on its shore (Strauss). The nets of 5:5 were probably long nets on floats for night fishing in deep water, not the round casting net of the shallows or the dragnet pulled between two boats. Partners is a business word, and fishermen often worked in cooperatives; Zebedee's hired men in Mark 1:20 point to a fairly successful business (Strauss).
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Luke 5:3, 5:4-5 and 5:11
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on Luke 5:3, 5:8 and 5:11
- Kenneth E. Bailey, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, ch. 11, The Call of Peter
- Mark L. Strauss, Luke, in Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, ed. Clinton E. Arnold, on Luke 5:1, 5:3, 5:5 and 5:7
