Matthew 4:18-22

The Call of the Disciples

4:18 As ¹  he was walking by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen). ²  4:19 He said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people.” ³  4:20 They ⁴  left their nets immediately and followed him. ⁵  4:21 Going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in a boat ⁶  with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. Then ⁷  he called them. 4:22 They ⁸  immediately left the boat and their father and followed him.

Matthew 9:9

The Call of Matthew; Eating with Sinners

9:9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. ⁹  “Follow me,” he said to him. And he got up and followed him.

John 1:43

The Calling of More Disciples

1:43 On the next day Jesus ¹⁰  wanted to set out for Galilee. ¹¹  He ¹²  found Philip and said ¹³  to him, “Follow me.”

[4:18]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[4:18]  ² tn The two phrases in this verse placed in parentheses are explanatory comments by the author, parenthetical in nature.

[4:19]  ³ tn The Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, thus “people.”

[4:20]  ⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[4:20]  ⁵ 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.

[4:21]  ⁶ 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.

[4:21]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[4:22]  ⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[9:9]  ⁹ tn While “tax office” is sometimes given as a translation for τελώνιον (telwnion, so L&N 57.183), this could give the modern reader a false impression of an indoor office with all its associated furnishings.

[1:43]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Jesus is best taken as the subject of εὑρίσκει (Jeuriskei), since Peter would scarcely have wanted to go to Galilee.

[1:43]  ¹¹ sn No explanation is given for why Jesus wanted to set out for Galilee, but probably he wanted to go to the wedding at Cana (about a two day trip).

[1:43]  ¹² tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:43]  ¹³ tn Grk “and Jesus said.”