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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Mark 1:16 - 1:20
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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mar_1:16-20
16As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. 17And Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." 18Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 19Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. 20Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.
Mar_1:16 "the Sea of Galilee" This lake goes by several names in the Bible.
1. the Sea of Chinnereth (cf. Num_34:11; Jos_12:3; Jos_13:27)
2. Lake of Gennesaret (cf. Luk_5:1)
3. Sea of Tiberias (cf. Joh_6:1; Joh_21:1)
4. Sea of Galilee (most common, cf. Mar_1:16; Mar_7:31; Mat_4:18; Mat_15:29; Joh_6:1)
▣ "Simon and Andrew. . .casting a net" Notice Peter is the first officially called in Mark, while in Joh_1:35-42 it was Andrew. The Sea of Galilee supplied all of Palestine with fish. This net refers to hand nets, which were about 10 feet by 15 feet across. Fish were a main staple of the Jewish diet.
Mar_1:17 "'Follow Me'" This is an adverb functioning as an Aorist imperative. This must not have been the first encounter between Jesus and these fishermen (cf. Joh_1:35 ff). This is their call to be official, permanent followers of a rabbi (cf. Mar_1:17; Mar_1:20).
▣ "'I will make you become fishers of men'" This is a word play on their vocation. Fishing in the OT was often a metaphor for judgment (cf. Jer_16:16. Eze_29:4-5; Eze_38:4; Amo_4:2; Hab_1:14-17). Here it is a metaphor of salvation.
Mar_1:18 This is repeated in Mat_4:18-22, but a slightly different account is found in Luk_5:1-11.
Mar_1:19-20 "boat" These were large fishing boats. James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were prosperous middle class fishermen (i.e., had hired servants). John apparently had business contracts to regularly sell fish to the priestly families in Jerusalem (i.e., John was known by them, cf. Joh_18:15-16).