Matius 4:12-22

Preaching in Galilee

4:12 Now when Jesus ¹  heard that John had been imprisoned, ²  he went into Galilee. 4:13 While in Galilee, he moved from Nazareth ³  to make his home in Capernaum ⁴  by the sea, ⁵  in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 4:14 so that what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled: ⁶ 

4:15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,

the way by the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles –

4:16 the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,

and on those who sit in the region and shadow of death a light has dawned.” ⁷ 

4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach this message: ⁸  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

The Call of the Disciples

4:18 As ⁹  he was walking by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen). ¹⁰  4:19 He said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people.” ¹¹  4:20 They ¹²  left their nets immediately and followed him. ¹³  4:21 Going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in a boat ¹⁴  with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. Then ¹⁵  he called them. 4:22 They ¹⁶  immediately left the boat and their father and followed him.

[4:12]  ¹ tn Grk “he.”

[4:12]  ² tn Or “arrested,” “taken into custody” (see L&N 37.12).

[4:13]  ³ map For location see Map1 D3; Map2 C2; Map3 D5; Map4 C1; Map5 G3.

[4:13]  ⁴ tn Grk “and leaving Nazareth, he came and took up residence in Capernaum.”

[4:13]  sn Capernaum was a town located on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee, 680 ft (204 m) below sea level. It was a major trade and economic center in the North Galilean region, and it became the hub of operations for Jesus’ Galilean ministry.

[4:13]  map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 C3; Map3 B2.

[4:13]  ⁵ tn Or “by the lake.”

[4:13]  sn By the sea refers to the Sea of Galilee.

[4:14]  ⁶ tn The redundant participle λέγοντος (legontos) has not been translated here.

[4:16]  ⁷ sn A quotation from Isa 9:1.

[4:17]  ⁸ tn Grk “and to say.”

[4:18]  ⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[4:18]  ¹⁰ tn The two phrases in this verse placed in parentheses are explanatory comments by the author, parenthetical in nature.

[4:19]  ¹¹ tn The Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, thus “people.”

[4:19]  sn The kind of fishing envisioned was net – not line – fishing (cf. v. 18; 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.

[4:20]  ¹² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[4:20]  ¹³ 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.

[4:21]  ¹⁴ tn Or “their boat.” The phrase ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ (en tw ploiw) can either refer to a generic boat, some boat (as it seems to do here); 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), while Matthew does not.

[4:21]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[4:22]  ¹⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.