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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comVincent Word Studies - Luke 5:4 - 5:4
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Launch out
Rev., put out. The singular number, addressed to Peter as master of the craft.
Let down (χαλάσατε)
The plural, addressed to the whole of the boat's crew. Originally, to slacken or loosen, as a bowstring or the reins of horses; hence to let sink as a net. Also of unbarring a door. Metaphorically, to be indulgent, to pardon. The word occurs in the New Testament seven times, and five of these in Luke. He uses it of letting down Paul in a basket at Damascus (Act 9:25); of striking a ship's sails, and of letting down a boat into the sea (Act 27:17, Act 27:30). Matthew, Mark, and John use βάλλω, or ἀμφιβάλλω, for casting a net (Mat 4:18; Mat 13:47; Mar 1:16; Joh 21:6), which appears also in the compound noun for a casting-net (ἀμφίβληστρον, see on Mat 4:18). The word used by Luke was in common use in medical writings, to denote relaxation of the limbs; loosening of bandages; abatement of sickness; letting herbs down into a vessel to be steeped.