Matthew 4:18

“And 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.”

Matthew 4:18 · direct translation from the Greek
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With the Greek beneath

18

Matthew 4:18, word by word

walkingΠεριπατῶνPeripatōn

walk

To move on foot, step by step, from place to place.

Where else “Peripatōn” appears
the Seaθάλασσανthalassan

sea

Sea; also a large lake, such as the Sea of Galilee.

Where else “thalassan” appears
of GalileeΓαλιλαίαςGalilaias

Galilee

See it on the mapWhere else “Galilaias” appears
he sawεἶδενeiden

see

To perceive with sight, to look and notice what is in front.

Where else “eiden” appears
twoδύοdyo

two

Two.

Where else “dyo” appears
brothersἀδελφούςadelphous

brother

A man born of the same parents as another, or of the same family.

Where else “adelphous” appears
SimonΣίμωναSimōna

Simon

Simon: the name of several men in the New Testament. The most often named is Simon Peter; also Simon the Zealot, one of the Twelve; Simon, a brother of Jesus; Simon of Cyrene; Simon the leper; a Pharisee; the magician of Samaria; the tanner of Joppa; and the father of Judas Iscariot.

Where else “Simōna” appears
who is calledλεγόμενονlegomenon

call

To call someone by a name.

Where else “legomenon” appears
PeterΠέτρονPetron

Peter

Peter, "rock": the name Jesus gave to Simon.

Where else “Petron” appears
AndrewἈνδρέανAndrean

Andrew

Andrew, brother of Simon Peter, one of the Twelve.

Where else “Andrean” appears
castingβάλλονταςballontas

throw

To hurl something or someone away from oneself.

Where else “ballontas” appears
a netἀμφίβληστρονamphiblēstron

casting net

Casting net, a fishing net thrown by hand.

Where else “amphiblēstron” appears
they wereἦσανēsan

be

To be: says who or what something is.

Where else “ēsan” appears
fishermenἁλιεῖςhalieis

fisherman

Fisherman.

Where else “halieis” appears

Translation note

“Peter” (Petros) means “stone.” The Sea of Galilee is a freshwater lake.

Parallel passages

Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.

The call of the first disciples

Mark 1:16-20Luke 5:1-11

Luke joins the call with the catch of fish; it is discussed whether it is the same event.

See them side by side

Matthew 4:18-22

18And 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. 19And he says to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of people.” 20And they at once left the nets and followed him. 21And 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; and he called them. 22And they at once left the boat and their father and followed him.

Mark 1:16-20

16And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. 17And Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you become fishers of people.” 18And at once they left the nets and followed him. 19And going on a little, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. 20And at once he called them; and leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, they went away after him.

Luke 5:1-11

1Now it happened, while the crowd was pressing in on him and listening to the word of God, that he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2and he saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing the nets. 3And getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land; and sitting down, he was teaching the crowds from the boat. 4And when he had stopped speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch.” 5And Simon answered and said, “Master, through the whole night we worked hard and caught nothing; but at your word I will let down the nets.” 6And when they had done this, they enclosed a great number of fish, and their nets were tearing. 7And they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; and they came and filled both the boats, so that they were sinking. 8But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.” 9For amazement had seized him and all those with him at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10and likewise also James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” 11And when they had brought the boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Places in this verse

Sea of GalileeGalilee
Approximate location. A “?” means it is not known for sure where it was.
  • Galilee

    Today: northern Israel, around the Sea of Galilee

    The northern region of Israel, around the Sea of Galilee.

    Most of Jesus' ministry took place there; he taught, healed and called his disciples (Matt 4:23; Mark 1:14).

    Isaiah 9:1Matthew 4:23Mark 1:14Luke 4:14

The context

17From then on Jesus began to proclaim and to say, “Change your minds, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

18 · This verse (above)

19And he says to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of people.”

Read all of Matthew 4

To study Matthew 4 in a group

  1. 1. What it says

    How did Jesus answer each time the tester spoke to him (vv. 4, 7, 10)?

  2. 2. What it means

    Why does Matthew tell of the testing right before Jesus begins to proclaim the kingdom (vv. 1, 17)?

  3. 3. How I live it

    Jesus called fishermen to follow him (v. 19). What everyday work could you do with more attention to God?

How to use it