Luke 5:1-4

The Call of the Disciples

5:1 Now Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing around him to hear the word of God. 5:2 He saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 5:3 He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then Jesus sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 5:4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”


tn Grk “Now it happened that.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

sn The Lake of Gennesaret is another name for the Sea of Galilee. Cf. the parallel in Matt 4:18.

sn The image of the crowd pressing around him suggests the people leaning forward to catch Jesus’ every word.

tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

tn Grk “Getting into”; the participle ἐμβάς (embas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

tn Grk “sitting down”; the participle καθίσας (kaqisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

tn Or “let down.” The verb here is plural, so this is a command to all in the boat, not just Peter.