Mark 1:17-20

1:17 Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people.” ¹  1:18 They left their nets immediately and followed him. ²  1:19 Going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother in their ³  boat mending nets. 1:20 Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Matthew 4:19-22

4:19 He said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people.” ⁴  4:20 They ⁵  left their nets immediately and followed him. ⁶  4:21 Going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in a boat ⁷  with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. Then ⁸  he called them. 4:22 They ⁹  immediately left the boat and their father and followed him.

¹ tn The Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, thus “people.”

² sn The expression followed him pictures discipleship, which means that to learn from Jesus is to follow him as the guiding priority of one’s life.

³ tn Or “a boat.” The phrase ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ (en tw ploiw) can either refer to a generic boat, some boat (as it seems to do in Matt 4:21); or it can refer to “their” boat, implying possession. Mark assumes a certain preunderstanding on the part of his readers about the first four disciples and hence the translation “their boat” is justified (cf. also v. 20 in which the “hired men” indicates that Zebedee’s family owned the boats).

⁴ tn The Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, thus “people.”

⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁶ sn The expression followed him pictures discipleship, which means that to learn from Jesus is to follow him as the guiding priority of one’s life.

⁷ tn Or “their boat.” The phrase ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ (en tw ploiw) can either refer to a generic boat, some boat (as it seems to do here); or it can refer to “their” boat, implying possession. Mark assumes a certain preunderstanding on the part of his readers about the first four disciples and hence the translation “their boat” is justified (cf. also v. 20 in which the “hired men” indicates that Zebedee’s family owned the boats), while Matthew does not.

⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.