They immediately left their nets and followed him. Going 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. He called them. They immediately left the boat and their father, and followed him.
Parallel Translations
-
They immediately left their nets and followed him.
Going 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. He called them.
They immediately left the boat and their father, and followed him.
-
And they strayght waye lefte their nettes and folowed hym.
And he went forthe from thence and sawe other twoo brethren Iames the sonne of zebede and Ihon his brother in the shippe with zebede their father mendynge their nettes and called them.
And they with out taryinge lefte the shyp and their father and folowed hym.
Show all 3 translations
-
And they straightway leauing the nets, folowed him.
And when he was gone forth from thence, he saw other two brethren, Iames the sonne of Zebedeus, and Iohn his brother in a ship with Zebedeus their father, mending their nets, and he called them.
And they without tarying, leauing the ship, and their father, folowed him.
Cross-references (24)
- Mark 10:28-31 (v20) Peter began to tell him, “Behold, we have left all, and have followed you.” Jesus said, “Most certainly I tell you, there is no one who has…
- Matthew 19:27 (v20) Then Peter answered, “Behold, we have left everything, and followed you. What then will we have?”
- Matthew 10:37 (vv20, 22) He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me isn’t worthy of me.
- 1 Kings 19:21 (v20) He returned from following him, and took the yoke of oxen, and killed them, and boiled their meat with the instruments of the oxen, and…
- Psalms 119:60 (v20) I will hurry, and not delay, to obey your commandments.
Show all 23 cross-references
- Matthew 10:2 (v21) Now the names of the twelve apostles are these. The first, Simon, who is called Peter; Andrew, his brother; James the son of Zebedee; John,…
- Mark 1:19-20 (v21) Going on a little further from there, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets.…
- Mark 3:17 (v21) James the son of Zebedee; and John, the brother of James, (whom he called Boanerges, which means, Sons of Thunder);
- Luke 18:28-30 (v20) Peter said, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” He said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, there is no one who has left…
- Deuteronomy 33:9-10 (v22) He said of his father, and of his mother, ‘I have not seen him.’ He didn’t acknowledge his brothers, nor did he know his own children; for…
- Mark 1:20 (v22) Immediately he called them, and they left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired servants, and went after him.
- Luke 5:10-11 (v21) and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will…
- Luke 9:59-60 (v22) He said to another, “Follow me!” But he said, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to…
- Luke 14:26 (v22) “If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he…
- John 21:2 (v21) Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together.
- Acts 12:2 (v21) He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword.
- Galatians 1:16 (v20) to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I didn’t immediately confer with flesh and blood,
- Matthew 17:1 (v21) After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves.
- Matthew 20:20-21 (v21) Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of him. He said to her, “What do you…
- Matthew 26:37 (v21) He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and severely troubled.
- Mark 5:37 (v21) He allowed no one to follow him, except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.
- Luke 14:33 (v22) So therefore whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple.
- 2 Corinthians 5:16 (v22) Therefore we know no one after the flesh from now on. Even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know him so no more.
23 distinct cross-references across this passage (24 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv20–22 20 And they straightway left their nets, and followed…
20 And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.
Ver. 20. And they straightway left their nets] As the woman of Samaria did her pitcher, Matthew his toll book, and blind Bartimeus his cloak when Christ called for him. Look we likewise to this "author and finisher of our faith;" and for love of him cast away every clog, and the sin that doth so easily beset or surround us. {ευπεριστατον, Heb 12:1-2} Divorce the flesh from the world, and there is no great danger. Admire not overmuch, rest not in, dote not on, cleave not to, the things of this life (those nets and snares of Satan, whereby he entangleth and encumbereth us), that we may attend upon the Lord (or sit close to him) without being haled away or distracted by these lusts of life (ευπροσεδρον τω κυριω απερισπαστως, 1Co 7:35). The deeper any man is drowned in the world, the more desperately is he divorced from God, deadened to holy things, and disobedient to the heavenly call, as the recusant guests in the Gospel, Mat 22:5.
Read full note →
And followed him] Immediately, and without sciscitation. When Christ calls we must not reason, but run, as Paul, Gal 1:16; not dispute, but despatch, with David, Psa 119:60. Go we know not whither, with Abraham; do we know not what, with Gideon. "If ye will inquire, inquire," saith Isaiah; "return, come," Isa 21:12. God loveth curristas, runners not quaeristas, questioners saith Luther. A quick passage, and full of quickening; like that of the orator, Si dormis, expergissere; si stas, ingredere; si ingrederis, curre; si curris, advola. (Cicer.) Courts have their cito, cito, quick, quick; and courtiers used to observe and improve their mollissima fandi tempora; so must Christians. God is but a while with men in the opportunities of grace. He comes leaping on the mountains, and skipping on the hills: and, being come, he stands at the door and knocks by the sound of his Word and motions of his Spirit. He sits not, but stands: while a man is standing we say he is going, Son 2:8; Rev 3:20. And woe be unto us if he depart from us, Hos 9:12. God hath his season, his harvest for judgment, Mat 13:30, and is now more quick and peremptory in rejecting men than of old: for how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation as is now preached? Heb 2:2. Our Saviour would not suffer the man that said he would follow him, to let so much time as to bury his father, Mat 8:22. Excuses he takes for refusals, delays for denials. As Saul lost his kingdom, so doth many a man his soul, by not discerning his time: and troops of them that forget God go down to hell, Psa 9:17. Quare castigemus mores et moras nostras. How you punish our ways and move us. Let us up and be doing, that the Lord may be with us.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv20–21 When Christ calls, men shall obey; when he calls,…
When Christ calls, men shall obey; when he calls, he draweth. It is not of indispensable necessity that men who exercise the ministry should have nothing else to do, Paul’s hands ministered to his necessities; but nothing but a providing for ourselves and households can excuse ministers in entangling themselves with the things of this life. Churches that are able ought better to provide for their ministers, and ministers so provided for sin if they do not wholly give up themselves to their work, 1Ti 4:15.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv20–21 And his fame went throughout all Syria,.... For his…
And his fame went throughout all Syria,.... For his ministry and miracles, especially the latter; wherefore
they brought to him, that is, out of Syria, the sick. Syria was in some respects reckoned as the land of Israel, though in others not.
Read full note →
"The (m) Rabbins teach, that in three respects Syria was like to the land of Israel, and in three to the countries with out the land: the dust defiled, as without the land; he that sold his servant to (one in) Syria, was as if he sold him to one without the land; and he that brought a bill of divorce from Syria, as if he brought it from without the land: and in three things it was like to the land of Israel; it was bound to tithes, and to the observance of the seventh year; and he that would go into it, might go into it with purity and he that purchased a field in Syria, was as if he had purchased one in the suburbs of Jerusalem.''
All sick people, that were taken with divers diseases and torments. This expresses in general, the grievous and tormenting diseases with which the persons were afflicted, who were brought to Christ for healing: some particular ones follow;
and those which were possessed with devils; in body as well as in mind; of which there were many instances, permitted by God on purpose, that Christ might have an opportunity of showing his power over those evil spirits.
And those which were lunatic; either melancholy persons, or mad and distracted men; that retired from the conversation of men, into fields or desert places: or such, whose disorders were influenced by the change of the moon; such as those who are troubled with the falling sickness; so the Greeks (n) call such persons the word here used by the Evangelist.
And those that had the palsy. These were each of them such disorders, as were incurable by the art of medicine; or for which rarely, and with great difficulty, any manner of relief could be obtained; and
he healed them; without any means, by a word speaking; which showed him more than a man, and truly and properly God.
(m) T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 8. 1. 2. vid. Maimon. Hileb. Tumath Meth. c. 11. sect. 6. (n) Vid. Fabricii Bibl. Graec. vol. 2. l. 3. c. 26. p. 656-658.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv20, 22 Verse 20. They straightway left their nets] A change,…
Verse 20. They straightway left their nets] A change, as far as it respected secular things, every way to their disadvantage. The proud and the profane may exult and say, "Such preachers as these cannot be much injured by their sacrifices of secular property - they have nothing but nets, c., to leave." Let such carpers at the institution of Christ know, that he who has nothing but a net, and leaves that for the sake of doing good to the souls of men, leaves his ALL: besides, he lived comfortably by his net before but, in becoming the servant of all for Christ's sake, he often exposes himself to the want of even a morsel of bread. See on Mt 19:27.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v21 Mat 4:21-22. Going on from thence — Mark says,…
Mat 4:21-22. Going on from thence — Mark says, A little further thence, He saw two other brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother — The reader will observe, there was another James, the son of Alpheus, or Cleophas, commonly called James the Less. In a ship, with Zebedee their father — By the sea-side, mending their nets — Which had been broken by the vast draught of fishes they had taken just before. And he called them — Not with his voice only, but by his Spirit affecting and drawing their hearts, so that they immediately left their ship and their father, and indeed their earthly all, and followed him.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv20–22 Straightway - Immediately - as all should do when…
Straightway - Immediately - as all should do when the Lord Jesus calls them.
Left their nets - Their nets were the means of their living, perhaps all their property. By leaving them immediately, and following him, they gave every evidence of sincerity. They showed, what we should, that they were willing to forsake all for the sake of Jesus, and to follow him wherever he should lead them. They went forth to persecution and death for his sake; but also to the honor of saving souls from death, and establishing a church that shall continue to the end of time. Little did they know what awaited them when they left their unmended nets to rot on the beach, and followed the unknown and unhonored Jesus of Nazareth. So we know not what awaits us when we become his followers; but we should cheerfully go when our Saviour calls, willing to commit all into his hands - come honor or dishonor, sickness or health, riches or poverty, life or death. Be it ours to do our duty at once, and to commit the result to the great Redeemer who has called us. Compare Mat 6:33; Mat 8:21-22; Joh 21:21-22.
Read full note →
Follow him - This is an expression denoting that they became his disciples, 2Ki 6:19.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v21 It was objected by the ancient enemies of Christianity,…
It was objected by the ancient enemies of Christianity, Porphyrius, Julian the apostate, and others, that Christ chose for his apostles simple and ignorant men, easy to be imposed upon, and not such as would have been on their guard against deception; thus converting that into an argument against the doctrine of Jesus Christ, which of all other circumstances most solidly and forcibly establishes its divinity and authority. (Salmeron. trac. 25.) --- If Christ had persuaded the ignorant apostles only, there might be some room for such an argument. But if these 12 ignorant men triumphed over the learning, the eloquence, the sophisms of the philosophers themselves, over the strong arm of power in the hands of tyrants, and finally over the devils and passions of men, which were the last to give up the combat against a doctrine that established itself on their ruin, then we may conclude, with St. Paul, that it was wisdom in God to choose the weak things of this world to confound the strong --- the foolish and the things that are not, to confound those which are. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv20–22 And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.
And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v20 20. Straightway left their nets — They had been…
20. Straightway left their nets — They had been previously disciples of John. The preaching of Jesus had divinely impressed their hearts. The miracle performed upon the present occasion, as detailed by Luke, had filled their hearts with awe. Straightway they left their nets, their boats, their father, and their father’s house, surrendering all to follow him, with a quickness that renders them the very model of a prompt obedience.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On v22 22. and their father] St Mark (Mar_1:20) adds “with…
22. and their father] St Mark (Mar_1:20) adds “with the hired servants.” We may infer that Zebedee and his sons and their partners were raised above the lowest social rank.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv21–22 (21) Mending their nets.—On the assumption that the facts…
(21) Mending their nets.—On the assumption that the facts in St. Luke preceded what we read here, the “mending” might seem the natural consequence of the “breaking” there described, and be noted as an undesigned coincidence. It must be remembered, however, (1) that the “mending” as well as “washing” flowed naturally even on a night of unsuccessful fishing, and (2) that the Greek of St. Luke does not say that the nets actually broke, but that they were on the point of breaking, and were beginning to do so.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv20–22 And they straightway left their nets. (For their leaving…
And they straightway left their nets. (For their leaving everything Wetstein, on ver. 19, compares Epictetus, 12, Ean de kubernhthv kalesh trece epi to ploion afeinta mhdemenov , "If the steersman call, run to the ship, leaving all those things, without regarding anything.") The Rheims Version, with its love of archaisms, has, "But they incontinent, leaving the nettes, followed him."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v21 He called them.
Mat_4:21
He called them.
Read full note →
Jesus calls all to follow Him
When engaged in their ordinary occupations. By His Word-Providence-Spirit.
I. The call.
1. Who calls? Jesus, the Saviour. His right to do so. His love in doing it.
2. The action. A call. Does not compel.
3. The purpose. To bring from toil to rest, from danger to safety, from nature to grace.
II. The obedience. Immediate-no delay. Thorough. They left, renounced, gave up, not to return: forsook, parted with possessions, relations. The reason was to follow Him-imitate, save. Through humility to glory. What remarkable faith! What ready obedience! (J. R. Taft, M. A.)
The character of St. James.
I. His thoroughness.
II. His readiness.
III. His devotedness. (Preb. Griffith, M. A.)
Forsaking all and following.
I. Consider the demand made upon the men called.
1. It involved the sacrifice of
(1) Domestic ties;
(2) Property;
(3) Their means of livelihood.
2. It secured
(1) Ridicule;
(2) Persecution;
(3) St. Andrews cross. Such was the prospect.
II. Contemplate their obedience manifested.
1. It was thorough.
(1) They forsook all;
(2) They followed Him-everywhere.
2. It was constant.
III. Now, as regards yourselves.
1. You have been called to follow Christ-
(1) In your baptism;
(2) Preaching;
(3) Warnings of Providence.
2. You are called to-Renounce evil ways.
3. You are called as they were, to endure loss, pain, death. Test your proceedings:-Sunday-how do you keep it? church-do you value its services? Holy Communion, etc. (G. Venables.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv20–22 20. Straightway left their nets. They obeyed at once.…
20. Straightway left their nets. They obeyed at once. Thus Christ ought always to be obeyed. No excuses for delay were offered, or should ever be.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v21 Two persons are called by this name in the…
James
Two persons are called by this name in the N.T.
Read full note →
(1) James the son of Zebedee, an apostle Mat 10:2 and the brother of the apostle John, apart from whom he is never mentioned, and with whom, together with Peter, he was admitted to the especial intimacy of our Lord.; Mat 17:1; Mar 5:37; Mar 9:2; Mar 14:33 He was martyred by Herod. Act 12:2
(2) A son of Alphaeus (or Cleopas) and Mary the sister of Mary the mother of Jesus. (See Scofield "Mat 1:16") and brother of Joses. Mar 15:40. He was, therefore, a cousin of the Lord Jesus. He is called James "the less" Mar 15:40 lit. little, i.e. of shorter stature than James the son of Zebedee). He was an apostle. Mat 10:3 It has been conjectured that "Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus" Mat 10:3 was identical with the Juda of Luk 6:16 who is there called "of i.e. ’son’ or ’brother’ as is has been variously translated] James." A Juda is mentioned with a James and Joses and Simon in Mar 6:3 as "brother" of our Lord (See Scofield "Mat 13:55, marg.). Mat 13:55. The Gospels mention no other James who could be called the brother of the Lord Jesus, but James the less was certainly the son of Alphaeus and Mary the sister of our Lord’s mother. The conclusion seems, therefore most probable that; Mat 10:3; Mat 13:55; Mar 3:18; Mar 6:3; Luk 6:15; Act 1:13; Act 12:17; Mar 15:13; Gal 1:19; Gal 2:9; Gal 2:12; Jas 1:1 refer to James the less, son of Alphaeus and Mary, and cousin, or, according to Jewish usage, "brother" of the Lord Jesus. He was the author of the Epistle of James.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v21 Others joined them on the same day:
Others joined them on the same day:
v. 21. And going on from thence, He saw two other brethren, James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, in a ship with Zebedee, their father, mending their nets; and He called them.
Read full note →
v. 22. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed Him.
This occurred in the same neighborhood as the event just recorded and in immediate conjunction with it, Luk 5:10. John had probably been among those that followed Jesus at the Jordan, Joh 1:35-40, and had, in the meantime, also told his older brother James of his wonderful experience. Therefore, although they were busily engaged with the routine of their calling, and although the call of Jesus implied the severing of family ties, there was just as little hesitation on their part. The honor of serving their Lord, even in poverty and humility, outweighs any and all temporal considerations.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v21 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Jesus calls more men to be his disciples.
Read full note →
He called them
"Jesus called John and James." This phrase also means that Jesus invited them to follow him, live with him, and become his disciples.
they immediately left
"at that moment they left"
left the boat ... and followed him
It should be clear that this is a life change. These men are no longer going to be fishermen and are leaving the family business to follow Jesus for the rest of their lives.
translationWords
Jesus
James (son of Zebedee)
John (the apostle)
Zebedee
call
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v20 4:20-22 leaving the boat and their father: Following Jesus…
4:20-22 leaving the boat and their father: Following Jesus as his disciples involved both commitment and cost on the part of the brothers (see 8:18-22; 10:38; 16:24; 19:21).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.