John 21:7 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
John 21:7
Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.
Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua) · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
loved
ἠγάπαēgapa
G25
to love (in a social or moral sense) · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person singular
saith
λέγειlegei
G3004
properly · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
Peter
Πέτρῳ·Petrō
G4074
a (piece of) rock (larger than G3037 (λίθος)) · noun — dative singular masculine, a proper name
is
ἐστίestí
G2076
he (she or it) is
Lord
κύριόςkurios
G2962
supreme in authority · noun — nominative singular masculine, a title
when
οὖνoun
G3767
(adverbially) certainly · conjunction
Simon
ΣίμωνSimōn
G4613
Simon (i.e. Shimon) · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
Peter
ΠέτροςPetros
G4074
a (piece of) rock (larger than G3037 (λίθος)) · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
heard
ἀκούσαςakousas
G191
to hear (in various senses) · verb — aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine
that
ὅτιhoti
G3754
demonstrative · conjunction
was
ἐστίestí
G2076
he (she or it) is
Lord
κύριόςkurios
G2962
supreme in authority · noun — nominative singular masculine, a title
girt
διεζώσατο,diezōsato
G1241
to gird tightly · verb — aorist middle indicative, 3rd person singular
fisher’s coat
ἐπενδύτηνependutēn
G1903
a wrapper · noun — accusative singular masculine
for
γὰρgar
G1063
properly · conjunction
was
ἦνēn
G2258
I (thou
naked
γυμνός,gumnos
G1131
nude (absolute or relative · adjective — nominative singular masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
cast
ἔβαλενebalen
G906
to throw (in various applications · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
himself
ἑαυτὸνhe'auton
G1438
him- (her- · reflexive pronoun
into
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
sea
θάλασσαν.thalassan
G2281
the sea (genitive case or specially) · noun — accusative singular feminine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
John 13:23 Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.
Matthew 14:28-29 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
John 19:26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
John 20:2 Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord…
John 21:24 This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.
John 21:20 Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which i…
2 Corinthians 5:14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
Psalms 118:23 This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 21:1-14
We have here an account of Christ's appearance to his disciples at the sea of Tiberias. Now, 1. Let us compare this appearance with those that went before, In those Christ showed himself to his disciples when they were met in a solemn assembly (it should seem, for religious worship) upon a Lord's day, and when they were all together, perhaps expecting his appearing; but in this he showed himself to some of them occasionally, upon a week-day, when they were fishing, and little thought of it. Christ has many ways of making himself known to his people usually in his ordinances, but sometimes by his Spirit he visits them when they are employed in common business, as the shepherds who were keepin…
that disciple whom Jesus loved, said, It is the Lord--again having the advantage of his brother in quickness of recognition (see on Joh 20:8), to be followed by an alacrity in Peter all his own.
he was naked--his vest only on, worn next the body.
cast himself into the sea--the shallow part, not more than a hundred yards from the water's edge (Joh 21:8), not meaning therefore to swim, but to get sooner to Jesus than in the full boat which they could hardly draw to shore.
Adam Clarke on John 21:7
His fisher's coat - Or, his upper coat. Επενδυτην, from επι, upon, and ενδυω, I clothe; something analagous to what we term a great coat or surtout.
He was naked - He was only in his vest. Γυμνος, naked, is often used to signify the absence of this upper garment only. In Sa1 19:24, when Saul had put off his ἱματια, upper garments, he is said to have been γυμνος, naked; and David, when girded only with a linen ephod, is said to have been uncovered, in Sa2 6:14, Sa2 6:20. To which may be added what we read in the Sept. Job 22:6, Thou hast taken away the covering of the naked; αμφιασιν γυμνων, the plaid or blanket in which they wrapped themselves, and besides which they had none other. In this…
But when they recognized Him, the disciples Peter and John again exhibited the peculiarities of their several tempers. The one was more fervent, the other more lofty; the one more keen, the other more clear-sighted. On this account John first recognized Jesus, Peter first came to Him.
For no ordinary signs were they which had taken place. What were they? First, that so many fish were caught; then, that the net did not break; then, that before they landed, the coals had been found, and fish laid thereon, and bread. For He no longer made things out of matter already subsisting, as, through a certain dispensation, He did before the Crucifixion. When therefore Peter knew Him, he threw down all, both fish and nets, and girded himself. Seest thou his respect and love? Yet they were only two hundred cubits off; but not even so could Peter wait to go to Him in the boat, but reached the shore by swimming.
After his resurrection, Jesus was standing on the shore; his disciples were in the ship. When the others did not know him, the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord." For virginity is the first to recognize a virgin body. Jesus was the same as he was before, yet he was not seen alike by all as the same. And immediately it is added, "And no one dared ask him, 'Who are you?' for they knew that he was the Lord." No one dared because they knew that he was God. They ate with him at dinner because they saw he was a man and had flesh. It was not that he was one person as God, another as man: but, being one and the same Son of God, he was known as man, adored as God.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Coat — The tunic worn like the shirt next the skin (Lev. 16:4; Cant. 5:3; 2 Sam. 15:32; Ex. 28:4; 29:5). The “coats of skins” prepared by God for Adam and Eve were probably nothing more than aprons (Gen.…
Dress — (1.) Materials used. The earliest and simplest an apron of fig-leaves sewed together (Gen. 3:7); then skins of animals (3:21). Elijah’s dress was probably the skin of a sheep (2 Kings 1:8). The…
Fishing, the art of — Was prosecuted with great industry in the waters of Palestine. It was from the fishing-nets that Jesus called his disciples (Mark 1:16-20), and it was in a fishing-boat he rebuked the winds and the…
Galilee, Sea of — (Matt. 4:18; 15:29), is mentioned in the Bible under three other names. (1.) In the Old Testament it is called the “sea of Chinnereth” (Num. 34:11; Josh. 12:3; 13:27), as is supposed from its…
John The Apostle — was the son of Zebedee, a fisherman on the Lake of Galilee, and of Salome, and brother of James, also an apostle. Peter and James and John come within the innermost circle of their Lord’s friends;…
John, Gospel of — The genuineness of this Gospel, i.e., the fact that the apostle John was its author, is beyond all reasonable doubt. In recent times, from about 1820, many attempts have been made to impugn its…
Naked — This word denotes (1) absolute nakedness (Gen. 2:25; Job 1:21; Eccl. 5:15; Micah 1:8; Amos 2:16); (2) being poorly clad (Isa. 58:7; James 2:15). It denotes also (3) the state of one who has laid…
Peter — Originally called Simon (=Simeon, i.e., “hearing”), a very common Jewish name in the New Testament. He was the son of Jona (Matt. 16:17). His mother is nowhere named in Scripture. He had a younger…
Fishes · Taken with: Nets — Taken with: Nets
Garments · Mentioned in scripture: Tunic or coat — Mentioned in scripture: Tunic or coat
on John 21:7
Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved,.... Which was John the Evangelist and Apostle, the writer of this Gospel:
saith unto Peter, it is the Lord; which two disciples were very intimate with each other, and communicated their thoughts freely to one another. John knew that it was the Lord, either by some special revelation, or from the multitude of fishes which were taken, and which showed a divine hand and power to be concerned. So faithful ministers of the Gospel know when Christ is with them, by his power attending their ministrations to the conversion of souls. The Cambridge copy of Beza's reads, "our Lord"; as do the Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions; and it is reasonable to thin…
John 21:1-14
1. After these things Jesus manifested himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and he manifested himself thus. 2. Simon Peter, and Thomas, who is called Didymus, [225] and Nathanael, who was of Cana of Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples, were together. 3. Simon Peter saith to them, I am going to fish; they say to him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing. 4. And when it was morning, Jesus stood on the shore; and the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. 5. Jesus saith to them, Children, have you ally thing to eat? [226] They answered him, No. 6. But he said t…
“It’s the Lord!” John recognized Jesus, probably remembering that a miracle like this had happened before (Luke 5:1-11). • Peter, who had stripped off his clothes while working, put on his tunic in order to meet the Lord.
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
