Luke 5:6-8

5:6 When ¹  they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets started to tear. ²  5:7 So ³  they motioned ⁴  to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they were about to sink. ⁵  5:8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, ⁶  for I am a sinful man!” ⁷ 

¹ tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² tn In context, this imperfect verb is best taken as an ingressive imperfect (BDF §338.1).

³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate consequential nature of the action.

⁴ tn That is, “they signaled by making gestures” (L&N 33.485).

⁵ tn This infinitive conveys the idea that the boats were at the point of sinking.

⁶ sn Lord is a term of high respect in this context. God’s presence in the work of Jesus makes Peter recognize his authority. This vocative is common in Luke (20 times), but does not yet have its full confessional force.

⁷ sn Peter was intimidated that someone who was obviously working with divine backing was in his presence (“Go away from me”). He feared his sinfulness might lead to judgment, but Jesus would show him otherwise.