Matthew 4:18

Studied by claude-opus-5-5 October 8, 2026

Περιπατῶν δὲ παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν τῆς Γαλιλαίας εἶδεν δύο ἀδελφούς, Σίμωνα τὸν λεγόμενον Πέτρον καὶ Ἀνδρέαν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ, βάλλοντας ἀμφίβληστρον εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν· ἦσαν γὰρ ἁλιεῖς.

Peripatōn de para tēn thalassan tēs Galilaias eiden duo adelphous, Simōna ton legomenon Petron kai Andrean ton adelphon autou, ballontas amphiblēstron eis tēn thalassan; ēsan gar halieis.

Walking-about now beside the sea of-the Galilee he-saw two brothers, Simon the-one being-called Peter and Andrew the brother of-him, throwing a-cast-net into the sea; they-were for fishermen.

What it meant

Right after announcing that God's reign has drawn near (4:17), Jesus is walking along the shore of the great freshwater lake of Galilee. The Jews called it a "sea", and it is the same "way of the sea" Isaiah had promised would see a great light (4:15–16). He notices two brothers at work. One is Simon, whom Matthew's readers already know by his nickname Peter, "the Rock". The other is Simon's brother Andrew, who bears a Greek name. They are standing in the shallows in the middle of a throw: swinging a round, weighted hand-net so that it opens over the water and drops onto a school of fish. Matthew adds, almost in passing, "for they were fishermen": this was their established trade, their family's livelihood in the busy, taxed fishing economy of the lake. That small explanation is a setup. In the next breath Jesus will take what they do every day, catching, and turn it into their calling: "I will make you fishers of people." The scene is ordinary on purpose. The call comes to working men at work, and it starts with Jesus seeing them, the way Elijah once found Elisha behind his plough.

Where the English drifted

Sea (of Galilee) thalassa

What we hear

A saltwater sea, an arm of the ocean.

What they heard

A large freshwater inland lake. "Sea" reflects the Hebrew habit of calling any big body of water yam.

Where the later meaning came from: The Semitic idiom passed into Gospel Greek and then into English without explanation. Luke and Josephus call it a "lake".
brethren (KJV) adelphoi

What we hear

In church language, "brethren" means fellow believers or church members.

What they heard

Literal blood brothers, sons of the same father (John 1:42 calls Simon "son of John").

Where the later meaning came from: "Brethren" survives in English mainly as a church word, so KJV readers may hear a spiritual relationship where the text states a family one.
fishermen (as shorthand for 'poor and simple') halieis

What we hear

Destitute, uneducated peasants at the bottom of society.

What they heard

Tradesmen in a regulated, taxed lake industry, often in family partnerships, some with hired hands. They were not elite, but not the poorest either. Acts 4:13 means they lacked formal scribal schooling.

Where the later meaning came from: Sermon tradition reading Acts 4:13 together with romantic images of humble apostles.

What the first hearers heard

For Matthew's first readers, probably Greek-speaking Jewish followers of Jesus in the later first century, this verse did several things:

It anchored the movement in real places and people. Simon Peter was the best-known leader of the early church. Readers learn that his story began on a working shoreline in Galilee, in the middle of a throw.
It showed Isaiah's promise coming true. The "light" promised to "the way of the sea, Galilee of the Gentiles" (4:15–16) now has names and faces.
It set up the call. "For they were fishermen" makes Jesus' words in 4:19 land: their skill would be redirected. Hearers who knew Jeremiah 16:16 (God sending "fishermen" to gather people, there in judgment) would hear Jesus taking up a prophetic image of God gathering his people.
It presented Jesus as one with a prophet's authority. He sees and calls, as Elijah called Elisha. This is not a student choosing a school.
It named Peter before his naming. "Simon who is called Peter" signals from the start that this fisherman will become the "rock" of 16:18.

Every word

Περιπατῶν
Peripatōn · G4043

to walk, walk about

"While walking along." The present participle shows Jesus in motion along the shore. Nothing here suggests he is looking for anyone; the call happens in the middle of ordinary movement.
δὲ
de · G1161

and, now, but

A light connective that opens a new scene after the summary of Jesus' preaching in 4:17. Here it is "now", not a contrast.
παρὰ
para · G3844

beside, alongside

With the accusative it means "along, beside". He walks along the shoreline, not on the water.
τὴν
tēn · G3588

the

Definite article: the well-known body of water.
θάλασσαν
thalassan · G2281

sea

In ordinary Greek this means the sea, but here it names the freshwater Lake Kinneret. That follows the Hebrew habit of calling any large body of water a yam, "sea".
τῆς
tēs · G3588

the

Article with the region's name. Greek often puts an article before place names.
Γαλιλαίας
Galilaias · G1056

Galilee

The northern region ruled by Herod Antipas. It ties back to 4:15, "Galilee of the Gentiles … the way of the sea" from Isaiah 9:1, so the place itself fulfils the prophecy Matthew has just quoted.
εἶδεν
eiden · G1492

saw

A simple past: "he saw". In Matthew's call scenes (4:18, 4:21, 9:9) Jesus' seeing comes first, so the move starts with him, not with the disciples.
δύο
duo · G1417

two

"Two". Verse 21 repeats it with a second pair of brothers, giving the scene a matched shape.
ἀδελφούς
adelphous · G80

brother

Literal blood brothers. Later in Matthew the word stretches to fellow disciples (12:49–50; 23:8), but here it means family.
Σίμωνα
Simōna · G4613

Simon

A Greek form that also stood for the Hebrew Shimʿon (Simeon). It was one of the most common Jewish men's names of the time.
τὸν
ton · G3588

the (one)

The article turns the following participle into a title-like description: "the one called".
λεγόμενον
legomenon · G3004

being called, named

"Who is called". This is a stock way Matthew introduces a second name (compare 1:16; 10:2). He uses the name his readers already know, ahead of the naming scene in 16:18.
Πέτρον
Petron · G4074

Peter ("Stone/Rock")

A nickname meaning "stone, rock". It is the Greek equivalent of the Aramaic Kêpha (John 1:42). Matthew's audience would hear the meaning, not just a name.
καὶ
kai · G2532

and

Joins the two brothers.
Ἀνδρέαν
Andrean · G406

Andrew

A purely Greek name (related to anēr, "man"; roughly "manly"). A Jewish family giving a son a Greek name reflects the mixed Greek-Jewish culture around the lake. John 1:44 places them at Bethsaida.
τὸν
ton · G3588

the

Article with "brother".
ἀδελφὸν
adelphon · G80

brother

Repeats the family tie: Andrew is identified by his relation to Simon, which already hints at Simon's prominence.
αὐτοῦ
autou · G846

his

"His", that is, Simon's.
βάλλοντας
ballontas · G906

throwing, casting

Present participle: they are in the act of throwing when Jesus sees them. The verb shares its root with the noun that follows (ballō + amphiblēstron, "throw-around thing"), a sound echo Mark has even more strongly (amphiballontas, Mark 1:16).
ἀμφίβληστρον
amphiblēstron · G293

cast net

A specific net: a round, weighted net thrown by hand so that it spreads and drops over fish in shallow water. It is not the large dragnet (sagēnē, 13:47) or the general word for net (diktyon, 4:20).
εἰς
eis · G1519

into

Direction of the throw: into the water.
τὴν
tēn · G3588

the

Article.
θάλασσαν
thalassan · G2281

sea

The same lake again. The repetition is natural Greek narrative style. The NIV varies it to "lake" here.
ἦσαν
ēsan · G1510

they were

An ongoing past state: fishing was their established trade, not an afternoon's pastime.
γὰρ
gar · G1063

for, because

Introduces the narrator's explanation, which also sets up Jesus' wordplay in the next verse.
ἁλιεῖς
halieis · G231

fishermen

Professional fishermen. The word is placed last for emphasis, ready to be picked up in 4:19: "I will make you fishers (halieis) of people."

Key words, in depth

θάλασσα thalassa G2281

Range of meaning: In ordinary Greek: the sea, especially the Mediterranean, salt water. In Jewish Greek influenced by Hebrew yam: any large body of water, including inland lakes. In Scripture it can also carry the old sense of the sea as untamed, chaotic water.
Against the English: English "sea" suggests salt water and open ocean. The body of water here is a freshwater lake about 21 km long and 13 km wide (roughly 13 by 8 miles), lying about 210 m below sea level. Luke, writing more like a Greek author, calls it a limnē, a "lake" (Luke 5:1).
How it drifted: Not so much drift as a Semitic idiom carried into Greek and then into English unexplained. The Hebrew Bible calls it yam Kinneret, "Sea of Kinneret" (Num 34:11; Josh 13:27).
Used elsewhere in the period: The Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) renders yam with thalassa, including the "sea of Chenereth" (Num 34:11 LXX). Josephus, writing for Greek readers, calls it the "lake of Gennesar" (limnē, War 3.506) and praises its sweet water and fish. Pliny the Elder also calls it a lake (Natural History 5.71). Mark and Matthew keep the Jewish "sea"; Luke and Josephus use the Greek "lake".
What it does in this verse: Readers should picture a large freshwater lake with villages, harbours and shallow shores, where men could stand in the water and throw nets. Matthew's choice also connects to the "way of the sea" he has just quoted from Isaiah (4:15), so the shore is the stage for prophecy coming true.

ἀμφίβληστρον amphiblēstron G293

Range of meaning: Literally "something thrown around" (amphi, around + ballō, throw). A circular cast net with weights on its edge, thrown by one person so that it opens, falls over a school of fish and is pulled closed. More broadly it can mean any enveloping net or snare.
Against the English: Most English versions say simply "a net", which is accurate but general. YLT's "drag" is misleading: a dragnet (Greek sagēnē, Matt 13:47) is a long seine pulled by a team or boats, a different method. NLT's "throwing a net into the water" keeps the action of throwing.
Used elsewhere in the period: Septuagint: Hab 1:15–17 (the enemy catching people like fish with nets), Isa 19:8 (Egyptian fishermen "casting amphiblēstra"), Ps 141:10 (140:10 LXX). Classical: Herodotus 1.141 (a fisherman's net in a fable told by Cyrus). Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1382, uses it of the robe that trapped Agamemnon like a net. Studies of Galilean fishing (e.g. Mendel Nun) describe the same hand-thrown net used on the lake into modern times, worked from the shore or shallow water, sometimes without a boat.
What it does in this verse: This detail shows Simon and Andrew working in the shallows, perhaps without a boat, while James and John in verse 21 are in a boat mending nets with their father. Matthew draws two pictures of the trade. The throwing also prepares for 4:19: men skilled at catching fish will be turned to gathering people.

ἁλιεύς halieus G231

Range of meaning: A fisherman by trade, from hals, "sea, salt". It names an occupation, not a social class.
Against the English: "Fishermen" is accurate. The overlay comes from preaching that treats the word as a byword for poverty and simplicity. In Galilee, fishing was a taxed, licensed trade tied to a regional economy of salted fish.
How it drifted: Popular preaching (fed by Acts 4:13, "uneducated, ordinary men") turned "fishermen" into a stock image of the poor peasant. Acts 4:13 means they lacked formal scribal training, not that they were destitute.
Used elsewhere in the period: Septuagint: Isa 19:8; Jer 16:16 ("I will send for many fishermen … and they will catch them"), a judgment image that sits behind the wordplay of 4:19. Ezek 47:10 shows fishermen spreading nets beside a renewed sea. Fishing in Galilee was regulated under Herod Antipas, with tolls and leases (see K.C. Hanson, Biblical Theology Bulletin 1997). Magdala's Greek name, Taricheae ("salted-fish works"), shows an export trade. Mark 1:20 notes that Zebedee had hired workers.
What it does in this verse: The narrator's "for they were fishermen" explains the throwing and sets up Jesus' reply: "I will make you fishers of people." Jesus calls them into a new purpose using the skill they already have.

Πέτρος Petros G4074

Range of meaning: As a common noun, "stone, rock" (close to petra, "bedrock, rock mass"). As a personal name it is almost unknown before Simon; it is a nickname translating Aramaic Kêpha, "rock, stone".
Against the English: English readers hear "Peter" as an ordinary first name, because the apostle made it one. Greek-speaking hearers would hear a nickname with a meaning, something like "Rocky".
How it drifted: The nickname became a common Christian given name, so the meaning has faded for English ears.
Used elsewhere in the period: John 1:42 gives the Aramaic Kēphas and explains it as Petros. Paul usually says Kēphas (1 Cor 1:12; Gal 2:9). Matthew 16:18 makes the wordplay explicit (Petros / petra). An Aramaic name kp' may appear in an Elephantine papyrus centuries earlier, but this is debated and rare.
What it does in this verse: "Simon who is called Peter" uses the name Matthew's readers already knew, before the scene where Jesus gives or confirms it (16:18). From his first appearance, the fisherman is marked as the one who will become the "rock".

εἶδεν eiden G1492

Range of meaning: "Saw, perceived." A single completed act of seeing, which in narrative often means "noticed, singled out".
Against the English: "He saw" is accurate. The point is structural, not lexical: in each call scene (4:18, 4:21, 9:9) Jesus sees, then speaks, then the person follows.
Used elsewhere in the period: Compare 1 Kings 19:19–21: Elijah finds Elisha at work ploughing and calls him, and Elisha leaves his oxen. That is the closest biblical pattern. Rabbinic custom, by contrast, had students seek out a teacher (m. Avot 1:6, "make for yourself a teacher"). Martin Hengel (The Charismatic Leader and His Followers) stressed this contrast.
What it does in this verse: The initiative belongs to Jesus. These men did not apply to be his students; he found them at work and called them, as a prophet called a successor. That fits the authority claimed in 4:17, that God's reign has come near.

The world behind it

The lake. The "Sea of Galilee" (also called Kinneret, Gennesaret, and later Tiberias) is a freshwater lake about 21 × 13 km, about 210 m below sea level and ringed by hills. In the first century its northern and western shores were lined with fishing towns: Capernaum, Bethsaida (home of Simon and Andrew according to John 1:44), and Magdala, whose Greek name Taricheae means roughly "fish-salting works".

The fishing economy. Fishing was a real business, not subsistence foraging. Under Herod Antipas, fishing rights, tolls and the processing trade were regulated and taxed, and fishermen often worked in family partnerships. Zebedee had hired men (Mark 1:20), and Luke 5:7, 10 calls the two pairs of brothers "partners". A first-century fishing boat recovered near Ginosar in 1986 (about 8 m long) gives a sense of the craft used. Different methods used different nets: the hand-thrown cast net (this verse), the large dragnet pulled to shore (13:47), and trammel nets set from boats.

How a call worked. Students normally chose their teacher. A teacher who went out, picked men at their work and said "come after me" looked more like a prophet calling a successor (Elijah and Elisha, 1 Kings 19:19–21) than a rabbi enrolling pupils.

Matthew's framing. The verse comes right after Matthew quotes Isaiah 9:1–2 about "the way of the sea … Galilee of the Gentiles". Setting the first call on that very shore shows the prophecy taking shape in real people and real places.

How the translations handle it

BSB As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
KJV ¶ And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
WEB Walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers: Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
YLT And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon named Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a drag into the sea — for they were fishers —

BSB“Simon called Peter … casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen”

Gets right: Clear and faithful. It supplies "Jesus" as subject for clarity, which matches the sense of the context.
Loses: "A net" hides that this is a specific hand-thrown cast net.

KJV“two brethren … casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers”

Gets right: Keeps the Greek's compact word order and the short "fishers", which matches "fishers of men" in v. 19 exactly.
Loses: "Brethren" now sounds like church language. "Jesus" as subject comes from the Textus Receptus addition.

WEB“Walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers”

Gets right: Follows the critical text by not naming Jesus in this verse, and keeps the opening participle ("Walking").
Loses: Like most versions, it gives the general "a net".

YLT“casting a drag into the sea — for they were fishers —”

Gets right: Very literal word order. "Fishers" matches v. 19.
Loses: "Drag" points to a dragnet (sagēnē), a different net and method from the hand-thrown amphiblēstron.

NIV“casting a net into the lake”

Gets right: "Lake" on the second mention tells modern readers what kind of water this is.
Loses: It switches from "Sea" to "lake" when the Greek repeats the same word, which hides the repetition.

ESV“casting a net into the sea”

Gets right: Keeps the repeated word "sea" and a fairly literal structure.
Loses: "A net" is general and "sea" goes unexplained.

NASB“casting a net into the sea”

Gets right: Formal and close to the Greek.
Loses: Same generality about the net.

NLT“throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living”

Gets right: "Fished for a living" brings out that this was their trade, and "throwing" is a vivid verb.
Loses: "Fished for a living" loses the noun "fishermen" (halieis) that v. 19 picks up in "fishers of people", so the wordplay is weakened.

Text and manuscripts

Subject of the verse. The Textus Receptus, the Greek base of the KJV, reads Peripatōn de ho Iēsous, "And Jesus, walking". The critical editions (NA28/UBS5) omit ho Iēsous, and the subject is understood from 4:17. Additions like this are common where a church reading began, because a reading taken out of context needed a named subject. The meaning does not change.

Mark's parallel. Mark 1:16 has amphiballontas en tē thalassē, "casting-around in the sea", using the verb alone. Matthew spells it out as ballontas amphiblēstron, "throwing a cast net", and adds the nickname "called Peter", in line with his consistent focus on Peter (10:2; 16:18).

Latin. The Vulgate renders the net as rete and keeps mare, "sea", passing the Semitic "sea" into Western usage.

Data note. The supplied lemma for eiden is εἴδω. Many lexicons file this aorist under ὁράω ("to see"). Either way the sense is "saw".

The Textus Receptus (behind the KJV) adds ὁ Ἰησοῦς, "Jesus", as the subject; the critical text (NA28/UBS) leaves the subject unstated, carried over from verse 17. The meaning is unaffected, and the addition is the kind of clarifying insertion made where a church reading began.

Where scholars differ

Is this the first time Simon and Andrew met Jesus?

Matthew and Mark tell the call without earlier contact; its suddenness is the point.

Matthew 4:18–22 and Mark 1:16–20 give no earlier meeting. The immediacy ("at once they left", 4:20) presents Jesus' word as enough authority on its own.
An earlier acquaintance lies behind the scene and the Synoptics compress it.

John 1:35–42 has Andrew, a disciple of John the Baptist, meet Jesus in Judea and bring Simon, who is named Kēphas there. Luke 5:1–11 sets the call after Jesus has taught from Simon's boat and after a miraculous catch. Many interpreters harmonize the accounts as stages of one relationship.

What was the economic standing of Galilean fishermen?

Modest tradesmen with some means, in a commercial industry.

Hired men and partnerships (Mark 1:20; Luke 5:7, 10), boats and gear as capital, Simon's house in Capernaum (Mark 1:29), and the salted-fish export trade (Taricheae). Wuellner (1967) argued for a fairly established middle stratum.
Economically squeezed workers under a taxing system that benefited the elite.

K.C. Hanson (1997) argued that Herodian control through leases, tolls and brokers left fishing families with thin margins. On this view they were not destitute but were vulnerable and exploited.

Sources

BDAG s.v. θάλασσα, ἀμφίβληστρον, ἁλιεύς, Πέτρος
LSJ s.v. ἀμφίβληστρον
Septuagint: Num 34:11; Isa 19:8; Jer 16:16; Ezek 47:10; Hab 1:15–17
Josephus, Jewish War 3.506–521 (description of the lake of Gennesar)
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 5.71
Herodotus 1.141; Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1382
Mishnah Avot 1:6
K.C. Hanson, "The Galilean Fishing Economy and the Jesus Tradition," Biblical Theology Bulletin 27 (1997)
W. Wuellner, The Meaning of "Fishers of Men" (1967)
Mendel Nun, The Sea of Galilee and Its Fishermen in the New Testament (1989)
M. Hengel, The Charismatic Leader and His Followers
W.D. Davies & D.C. Allison, Matthew (ICC), vol. 1
Tal Ilan, Lexicon of Jewish Names in Late Antiquity, Part I
NA28 apparatus; B.M. Metzger, Textual Commentary on the Greek NT

Original-language data: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (CC BY 4.0).

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