Markus 1:17-20

1:17 Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people.” ¹  1:18 They left their nets immediately and followed him. ²  1:19 Going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother in their ³  boat mending nets. 1:20 Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Markus 2:14

2:14 As he went along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax booth. ⁴  “Follow me,” he said to him. And he got up and followed him.

Markus 10:28

10:28 Peter began to speak to him, “Look, ⁵  we have left everything to follow you!” ⁶ 

[1:17]  ¹ tn The Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, thus “people.”

[1:17]  sn The kind of fishing envisioned was net – not line – fishing (cf. v. 16; cf. also BDAG 55 s.v. ἀμφιβάλλω, ἀμφίβληστρον) which involved a circular net that had heavy weights around its perimeter. The occupation of fisherman was labor-intensive. The imagery of using a lure and a line (and waiting for the fish to strike) is thus foreign to this text. Rather, the imagery of a fisherman involved much strain, long hours, and often little results. Jesus’ point may have been one or more of the following: the strenuousness of evangelism, the work ethic that it required, persistence and dedication to the task (often in spite of minimal results), the infinite value of the new “catch” (viz., people), and perhaps an eschatological theme of snatching people from judgment (cf. W. L. Lane, Mark [NICNT], 67). If this last motif is in view, then catching people is the opposite of catching fish: The fish would be caught, killed, cooked, and eaten; people would be caught so as to remove them from eternal destruction and to give them new life.

[1:18]  ² sn The expression followed him pictures discipleship, which means that to learn from Jesus is to follow him as the guiding priority of one’s life.

[1:19]  ³ tn Or “a boat.” The phrase ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ (en tw ploiw) can either refer to a generic boat, some boat (as it seems to do in Matt 4:21); or it can refer to “their” boat, implying possession. Mark assumes a certain preunderstanding on the part of his readers about the first four disciples and hence the translation “their boat” is justified (cf. also v. 20 in which the “hired men” indicates that Zebedee’s family owned the boats).

[2:14]  ⁴ tn While “tax office” is sometimes given as a translation for τελώνιον (telwnion, so L&N 57.183), this could give the modern reader a false impression of an indoor office with all its associated furnishings.

[2:14]  sn The tax booth was a booth located on the edge of a city or town to collect taxes for trade. There was a tax booth in Capernaum, which was on the trade route from Damascus to Galilee and the Mediterranean. The “taxes” were collected on produce and goods brought into the area for sale, and were a sort of “sales tax” paid by the seller but obviously passed on to the purchaser in the form of increased prices (L&N 57.183). It was here that Jesus met Levi (also named Matthew [see Matt 9:9]) who was ultimately employed by the Romans, though perhaps more directly responsible to Herod Antipas. It was his job to collect taxes for Rome and he was thus despised by Jews who undoubtedly regarded him as a traitor.

[10:28]  ⁵ sn Peter wants reassurance that the disciples’ response and sacrifice has been noticed.

[10:28]  ⁶ tn Grk “We have left everything and followed you.” Koine Greek often used paratactic structure when hypotactic was implied.