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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
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OET (OET-LV) And Simōn answering, said:
Master, through all night having_laboured, nothing we_took, but at the message of_you, I_will_be_lowering the nets.
OET (OET-RV) “Master,” Simon answered, “we worked all through the night and didn’t catch anything, but ok, I’ll do what you say and lower the nets.”
In this section, Simon Peter and some of his fishing companions heard Jesus teach. They saw his power revealed through a miraculous catch of fish. As a result, they left their fishing work and began following Jesus as his disciples.
Some other possible headings for this section are:
Jesus called Simon and other fishermen to become his disciples
Jesus’ first disciples
There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 4:18–22 and Mark 1:16–20.
“Master,” Simon replied, “we have worked hard all night
Simon responded, “Master, we(excl) worked/tried hard all night to catch fish,
Simon said/protested, “Master, all last night we(excl) worked hard at fishing,
Simon was a skilled and experienced fisherman. He did not believe that he and the others with him in the boat would catch any fish if they let down the nets at this time. His words to Jesus imply this.
Master: The Greek word that the BSB translates as Master is a word that shows respect. People used this word to address a person who had high position or status.The Greek word here is Ἐπιστάτα, which is unique to Luke in the Gospels. Parallel passages in Matthew use κύριε, while parallels in Mark use either διδασκαλε or ραββι. It showed that Simon respected Jesus.
The word Master is similar in meaning to “Lord” at 5:8c. But when someone used the word “Lord,” as Simon did later in 5:8c, he was showing greater respect. Your language may have more than one word to show respect. Use the word that shows lesser respect here. Use the word that shows greater respect in 5:8c.
(See the note on “Lord” at 5:8c, where Simon changed the word that he used to address Jesus.)
Simon replied: Jesus had given Simon a command. Usually a person responds to a command by doing the action. However, Simon responded by protesting to Jesus. Use the most natural way in your language to introduce this protest. For example:
Simon responded
Simon protested
we have worked hard: The phrase we have worked hard refers to working hard at fishing. Simon and the other fishermen had fished throughout the night. In your language, you may need to say that “fishing” was the work that they had done. For example:
we worked hard…trying to catch fish (NCV)
we have labored at our fishing
we fished as well/hard as we could
all night: The best time to fish in this lake was at night.Fishing in deep water, such as in Lake Galilee, is unlikely to produce a good catch in the daytime. These nets were typically only used for night fishing. The catch was normally sold in the morning (Marshall, IVP Bible Background Commentary, Green). In John 21:1–6, the disciples were also up all night fishing and at Jesus’ word they had a fabulous catch during the day. This conversation was taking place during the day. Simon and his companions had been fishing during the previous night.
If necessary, use a footnote to provide background information. For example, you could say:
Fishermen on Lake Galilee knew from experience that they would catch more fish at night than during the daytime.
without catching anything.
and we did not catch any fish.
but we did not take/get anything. So it is not likely that we will catch anything now.
without catching anything: The fishermen did not catch anything during the previous night. Therefore they believed that it would be useless to fish during the day. If your readers do not understand this, you may need to make this explicit. For example:
We have caught nothing during the night, so it is certainly not likely that we will catch anything now.
But because You say so, I will let down the nets.”
But because of your(sing) word/command, I will lower the nets.”
But you say to put the nets in the water, so I will.” (NCV)
However, we will lower/throw the nets into the water because you say/command it.”
But: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as But here indicates a contrast with what was implied in 5:5b. Simon did not believe that putting his net into the water one more time would help him to catch anything. But he was willing to try it because Jesus had asked him.
Use a conjunction in your language that naturally introduces a contrast. For example:
nevertheless (KJV)
However
because You say so: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as because You say so is literally “at Your word” (as in the RSV).
Some other ways to say this are:
I will do as You say (NASB)
because you say/command it
I will let down the nets: Simon Peter was in charge of the boat. But he did not let down the nets all by himself. So it may be necessary to translate this as:
I will cause the nets to be let down.
I will have the men let down the nets
We(excl) will throw/cast the nets into the water
The text implies here that Simon Peter would first move the boat into deeper water. If your readers think that Simon Peter would let down the nets where he was, you may make this explicit. For example:
because you say so, I will move the boat out into deeper water and let down the nets
In some languages, it may be more natural to change the order of the two clauses in 5:5c. For example:
But I will let down the nets because you say so.
In other languages, it may be necessary to use a different conjunction. For example:
You said to lower the nets, so I will.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / hendiadys
ἀποκριθεὶς Σίμων εἶπεν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἀποκριθείς Σίμων εἶπεν Ἐπιστάτα διʼ ὅλης νυκτός κοπιάσαντες οὐδέν ἐλάβομεν ἐπί δέ τῷ ῥήματι σοῦ χαλάσω τά δίκτυα)
Together the words answering and said mean that Simon responded to Jesus’ instructions to take the boat out and let down the nets. Alternate translation: [Simon responded]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ ῥήματί σου
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἀποκριθείς Σίμων εἶπεν Ἐπιστάτα διʼ ὅλης νυκτός κοπιάσαντες οὐδέν ἐλάβομεν ἐπί δέ τῷ ῥήματι σοῦ χαλάσω τά δίκτυα)
Here Peter uses word to refer to what Jesus commanded him by using words. Alternate translation: [but because you have told me to do this]
OET (OET-LV) And Simōn answering, said:
Master, through all night having_laboured, nothing we_took, but at the message of_you, I_will_be_lowering the nets.
OET (OET-RV) “Master,” Simon answered, “we worked all through the night and didn’t catch anything, but ok, I’ll do what you say and lower the nets.”
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.