Jesus see Simon and Andrew fishing.
Mark 1:17 Come after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.
Mark 1:17 Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people.
Here, behind me and I will make you to become sunners of people.
We need to be pulled into the light of day.
The real gem here is the word translated as "fishers," which in Greek means "of the sun" or "sunners." We can think of this as referring to working in the sun, but I like the symbolism of bringing fish to the sun by pulling them out of the dark depths of the water. The Greek word isn't based on a reference to fish (ichtheus) or sea (thalassa), but a reference to being in the sun (helios). The Greek verb "to fish" has the same base. The Greek described the act of fishing as "sunning a fish," bringing a fish to the sun, exactly like we say "landing a fish" bringing it to land. So they described fishermen as "sunners" (sort of), which we translated as "fishers" or "fishermen," but with the added very evocative idea of bringing things, in this case people, to the light.It is more commonly used to simply mean "sailor" or "seaman." However, another term, nautês, is much more commonly used to refer to a "sailor." This word is an adjective that is used here as a noun. As an adjective, it means "in the sun" or "in the warmth." Fish were hung in the sun after being caught so the sense is "sunners." It is also a verb that means "to have mercy."
This verse is a reference to Jeremiah 16:16 which use the same Greek word in the Septuagint to refer to "fishers" who look for the children of Israel.
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "come" is not the common word usually translated as "come."
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "come" is not the common word usually translated as "come."
- WF - Wrong Form - The "follow" is a verbal command but an adverb meaning "back" or "after."
- WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "send" means "make."
- IW - Inserted word-- The word"out " doesn't exist in the source.
- WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "fish" means "become."
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "fishers" is not shown in the English translation.
Come - (CW) "Come" is not from a verb but from an adverb used like saying "over here!" in English to call someone to where you are. This is not the word usually translated as "come."
after -- The term translated as "after" means "back" in space but "after" in time. It is followed by a possessive which tells us whose back it is. The logic regarding time is that, since the future is unseen, it should be regarded as behind us, whereas the past is known and therefore before our eyes. This seems quite strange to English speakers, but the use of this word in Greek is well-established to mean "future." Our English view coincides with the ancient Greek when discussing books. The "back" of the book in English means the "end" of the book, which is the future for the reader. This use of "back" is identical to the Greek.
me -- "My" is the first-person possessive singular pronoun. This pronoun follows the noun so "of mine." As a genitive object of a preposition, as here, it means movement away from something or a position away from something else.
and -- The Greek word translated as "and" is used as the conjunction "and," but it also is used to add emphasis ("also"). In a series, it is can be translated as "not only...but also." After words implying sameness "as."
I -- This is from the first-person, singular form of the verb.
will -- This helping verb "will" indicates the future tense of the following verb.
make -- The Greek term translated here as "make" is correctly translated here, but it is confused in most of the Gospels. It is almost always translated as "to do." While it can mean "to do," Jesus usually uses it to mean "to make," "to create," "to perform," and "to produce" as he does here.
you -- The "you" here is the second-person, plural pronoun in the form of an object.
to -- This "to" is added because the infinitive form of the verb requires a "to" in English.
become -- The word translated as "become" means "to become," that is, to enter into a new state. In Greek, especially as used by Jesus, it is the opposite of "being," which is existence in the current state. When applied to events, this word means "to happen," "to occur," or "take place." For things, it can be "to be produced." When the participle takes a predicate, the sense is "coming into" something.
fishers -- The Greek term translated as "fisher" here doesn't refer to the Greek word for fish. This word is an adjective that means "in the sun" or "in the warmth." As a noun, the word means "those of the sun" or "sunners." The root of this word is Greek word for "sun." The verb form means "to fish" or "to net," describing bringing the fish out into the sun.
of -- This word "of" comes from the genitive case of the following word that required the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is the "of" of possession,
men. -- The Greek word for "man" means "man," "person" and "humanity" in the singular. In the plural, it means "men," "people," and "peoples."
Come - (CW) "Come" is not from a verb but from an adverb used like saying "over here!" in English to call someone to where you are. This is not the word usually translated as "come."
follow -- (WF) The Greek word translated as "follow" means "behind" in space and "after" in time. It is not a verb but a preposition.
me, -- "Me" is the first-person possessive singular pronoun.
and -- The Greek word translated as "and" is used as the conjunction "and," but it also is used to add emphasis ("also"). In a series, it is can be translated as "not only...but also." After words implying sameness "as."
I -- This is from the first-person, singular form of the verb.
will -- This helping verb "will" indicates the future tense of the following verb.
send -- (WW) The Greek term translated here as "send" means "to make," "to create," "to perform," and "to produce" as he does here. It is almost always translated as "to do." While it can mean "to do,"
you -- The "you" here is the second-person, plural pronoun in the form of an object.
out -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "out" in the Greek source.
to -- This "to" is added because the infinitive form of the verb requires a "to" in English.
fish-- -- (WW) The word translated as "fish" means "to become," that is, to enter into a new state. In Greek, especially as used by Jesus, it is the opposite of "being," which is existence in the current state. When applied to events, this word means "to happen," "to occur," or "take place." For things, it can be "to be produced." When the participle takes a predicate, the sense is "coming into" something.
missing "fishers" -- (MW) The untranslated word is an adjective that means "in the sun" or "in the warmth." As a noun, the word means "those of the sun" or "sunners." The root of this word is Greek word for "sun." The verb form means "to fish" or "to net," describing bringing the fish out into the sun. This is not the verb, but the noun.
for -- This word "for" comes from the genitive case of the following word that required the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is the "of" of possession, but it can also mean "belonging to," "part of," "which is," "than" (in comparisons), or "for," "concerning" or "about" with transitive verbs.
people. -- The Greek word for "people" means "man," "person" and "humanity" in the singular. In the plural, it means "men," "people," and "peoples."
Δεῦτε [8 verses](adv) "Come" is from deute, which is an adverb that means "come here" and "come hither," like we might shout "Here!" in English. It is not a verb so it doesn't contain the regular information about the subject found in a Greek verb.
ὀπίσω [15 verses](prep/adv) "Back" is from opiso, which means "back," "behind," and "hereafter."
μου [239 verses](adj sg masc gen) "Me" is from mou (emou), which means "me," and "mine." As a genitive object means movement away from something or a position away from something else.
καὶ [1089 verses](conj/adv) "And" is kai, which is the conjunction joining phrases and clauses, "and," or "also." After words implying sameness, "as" (the same opinion as you). Used in series, joins positive with negative "Not only...but also." Also used to give emphasis, "even," "also," and "just."
ποιήσω [168 verses](verb 1st sg fut ind act or verb 1st sg aor subj act) "I will make" is poieo, which means "to make," "to produce," "to create," "to bring into existence," "to bring about," "to cause," "to perform," "to render," "to consider," "to prepare," "to make ready," and "to do." The accusative object is what is made. Double accusative is to do something to someone. When it has a genitive object, it means "made from." When it doesn't have an object, the verb is translated as "perform" or simply "do." When used with an accusative infinitive, it means to "cause" or "bring about." A dative object means "made with." With the preposition "into" (eis) it means "made into."
ὑμᾶς [210 verses](pron 2nd pl acc) "You" is humas which is the plural objective form of the second-person pronoun, "you." -
γενέσθαι [117 verses](verb aor inf mid) "Become" is ginomai, which means "to become," "to come into being," "to happen," of things "to be produced," of events "happen," "take place," "come to pass," "to be engaged in," math "to be multiplied into," "become one of," "turn into." It means changing into a new state of being. When the participle takes a predicate, the sense is "coming into" something. It is the complementary opposite of the verb "to be" (eimi) which indicates existence in the same state.
ἁλεεῖς [2 verses](adj pl masc nom) "Fishers" is halieus, which is an adjective that means "in the sun" and "in the warmth." Used as a noun, it also means "one who has to do with the sea," "seaman," "sailor," and "fisher." The verb form means "to fish,"and "to net." It is also the second person verb form of the Greek verb meaning "to have mercy" and "to have pity." -
ἀνθρώπων. [209 verses](noun pl masc gen) "Of man" is anthropos, which is "man," and, in plural, "mankind." It also means "humanity" and that which is human and opposed to that which is animal or inanimate.
A play on the Greek word meaning "in the sun," "fisherman," and "to have mercy."
As always, I prefer to think that all these ideas, that of being a fisherman, a sailor, and bringing things up to the sun are intended.
What does it mean to be sail upon the seas of humanity? It means not being tied to one place or group. It means to move where the wind (the real meaning of the Greek word for "spirit) takes you. It means to be at the mercy of the weather but to have a course and a purpose. No one wanders the sea as one might wander the desert.
However, the purpose is to bring things to the sun, in this case, people. A "fisher of men" means catching men, or as they did in Galilee, in nets, and pulling them from the dark, chaotic sea into the light of day and order of land. If we think of the sea as a metaphor for the world of men and the air and sunlight as the world of the spirit, it means bringing them up from a limited world to a bigger world.
Before Christ, all men were under water, lost in the depth. The role of the apostles was to pull them from the depths, up to the light. Of course, the fish would die out of water, but the men would be reborn. This metaphor gives more meaning to the symbol of baptism. Though the term in Greek means being dunked in water, the real rebirth here is the rising from the water, rising from the depths. It isn't a ritual washing, but a coming out of the depths into the air.