Bob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 4:18

Bob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 4:18 - 4:22

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Bob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 4:18 - 4:22

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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_4:18-22

¹⁸Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁹And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." ²⁰Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. ²¹Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. ²²Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Mat_4:18 "the Sea of Galilee" This fresh water lake is about 12 miles by 8 miles. It was known in the Bible by four different names.

1.the Sea of Chinnereth (cf. Num_34:11)

2. Lake Gennesaret (cf. Luk_5:1)

3. the Sea of Tiberias (cf. Joh_6:1; Joh_21:1)

4. here, the Sea of Galilee

▣ "He saw two brothers," It is uncertain if this was the first time that these men had met and heard Jesus. Apparently their immediate response reflected an earlier meeting, possibly recorded in Joh_1:45-51. It must be remembered that John records an earlier Galilean and Judean ministry. John's chronology of Jesus' life records events in: Galilee, Judea, Galilee, and Judea.

▣ "net" This refers to a hand-cast, round net, but the word "net" in Mat_4:20-21 is a different word and refers to larger nets pulled by boats.

1. behind the boat or between boats

2. one end anchored at the shore, the other end taken straight out by a boat and then in a semi-circle, brought to shore.

Mat_4:19 "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men" In its Jewish setting, Jesus was officially calling these men to become His disciples. There were set rules and procedures on how a rabbi did this. The terminology is a word play on their current profession of fishing and their new one as witnesses and evangelists.