Matthew 4:21

And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	Καὶ Kai	G2532	and · conjunction
on	προβὰς probas	G4260	to walk forward · verb — second aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine
thence	ἐκεῖθεν ekeithen	G1564	thence · adverb
saw	εἶδεν eiden	G1492	used only in certain past tenses · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
other	ἄλλους allous	G243	"else · adjective — accusative plural masculine
two	δύο duo	G1417	"two" · adjective — numeral, indeclinable
brethren	ἀδελφούς, adelphous	G80	a brother (literally or figuratively) near or remote (m… · noun — accusative plural masculine
James	Ἰάκωβον Iakōbon	G2385	Jacobus · noun — accusative singular masculine, a proper name
Zebedee	Ζεβεδαίου Zebedaiou	G2199	Zebedæus · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
John	Ἰωάννην Iōannēn	G2491	Joannes (i.e. Jochanan) · noun — accusative singular masculine, a proper name
his	αὐτοῦ autou	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
brother	ἀδελφὸν adelphon	G80	a brother (literally or figuratively) near or remote (m… · noun — accusative singular masculine
in	ἐν en	G1722	"in · preposition
ship	πλοίῳ ploiō	G4143	a sailer · noun — dative singular neuter
with	μετὰ meta	G3326	properly · preposition
Zebedee	Ζεβεδαίου Zebedaiou	G2199	Zebedæus · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
their	αὐτῶν autōn	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
father	πατρὸς patros	G3962	a "father" (literally or figuratively · noun — genitive singular masculine
mending	καταρτίζοντας katartizontas	G2675	to complete thoroughly · verb — present active participle, accusative plural masculine
their	αὐτῶν, autōn	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
nets	δίκτυα diktua	G1350	a seine (for fishing) · noun — accusative plural neuter
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
called	ἐκάλεσεν ekalesen	G2564	to "call" (properly · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
them	αὐτούς. autous	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative plural masculine

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

Matthew 10:2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and…
Mark 1:19-20 And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their…
Mark 3:17 And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:
Luke 5:10-11 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth t…
John 21:2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his…
Acts 12:2 And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.
Matthew 17:1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
Matthew 20:20-21 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 4:18-22

When Christ began to preach, he began to gather disciples, who should now be the hearers, and hereafter the preachers, of his doctrine, who should now be witnesses of his miracles, and hereafter concerning them. Now, in these verses, we have an account of the first disciples that he called into fellowship with himself. And this was an instance, 1. Of effectual calling to Christ. In all his preaching he gave a common call to all the country, but in this he gave a special and particular call to those that were given him by the Father. Let us see and admire the power of Christ's grace, own his word to be the rod of his strength, and wait upon him for those powerful influences which are necessar…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 4:21

And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship--rather, "in the ship," their fishing boat. with Zebedee their father, mending their nets: and he called them.

John Gill on Matthew 4:21

And going on from thence, he saw other two,.... When he had gone but a little way further, Mark 1:19 he spied two other persons he was looking for, and had designed to call to the office of apostleship; and these are also described as "brethren", and by name, James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother. The Jews make mention in their writings (h), of one , "R. James, the son of Zebedee": which Capellus (i) conjectures is the very same person here mentioned: but the James they speak of as a disciple of Jesus, they call , "James the heretic" (k); who, they say, was of the village of Secaniah, and sometimes of the village of Sama. His brother's name was John, who was the Evangelist, as w…

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John Calvin on Matthew 4:18–end

Matthew 4:18-25 Matthew 4:18-25 Mark 1:16-20 Luke 5:1-11 18. And Jesus, walking near the sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon surnamed Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers. 19. And he saith to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 20. And they, having left their nets, immediately followed him. 21. And advancing thence, he saw other two brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets: and he called them. 22. And they immediately, having left the ship and their father, followed him. 23. And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preachin…

The Church Fathers

(Hom. in Ex. 17:1.) Hereby we are also silently admonished, that he who wants affection towards others, ought not to take on him the office of preaching. The precepts of charity are two, and between less than two there can be no love.
— Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

If that was wanting to the apostles, I know not in the faith of what things it was, that, roused by one word of the Lord, one left the toll-booth behind for ever; another deserted father and ship, and the craft by which he gained his living; a third, who disdained his father's obsequies, fulfilled, before he heard it, that highest precept of the Lord, "He who prefers father or mother to me, is not worthy of me.
— Tertullian, On Baptism

Do you hesitate about arts, and trades, and about professions likewise, for the sake of children and parents? Even there was it demonstrated to us, that both "dear pledges," and handicrafts, and trades, are to be quite left behind for the Lord's sake; while James and John, called by the Lord, do leave quite behind both father and ship; while Matthew is roused up from the toll-booth; while even burying a father was too tardy a business for faith.
— Tertullian, On Idolatry

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

James — (1.) The son of Zebedee and Salome; an elder brother of John the apostle. He was one of the twelve. He was by trade a fisherman, in partnership with Peter (Matt. 20:20; 27:56). With John and Peter he…
John — (1.) One who, with Annas and Caiaphas, sat in judgment on the apostles Peter and John (Acts 4:6). He was of the kindred of the high priest; otherwise unknown. (2.) The Hebrew name of Mark (q.v.). He…
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…
Ship — No one writer in the whole range of Greek and Roman literature has supplied us with so much information concerning the merchant-ships of the ancients as St. Luke in the narrative of St. Paul’s voyage…
Zebedee — A Galilean fisherman, the husband of Salome (q.v.), and the father of James and John, two of our Lord’s disciples (Matt. 4:21; 27:56; Mark 15:40). He seems to have been a man of some position in…
Apostles · Selection of — Selection of
Call · .APOSTLES — .APOSTLES
Devotedness To God · Exemplified: Peter, Andrew, James, John — Exemplified: Peter, Andrew, James, John
Fishermen · Certain apostles — Certain apostles
Galilee · Christ: Chose his Apostles from — Christ: Chose his Apostles from
James · 1. An apostle. — 1. An apostle.
Net · Fish — Fish

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 4:18-22

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 4:21

John Gill on Matthew 4:21

John Calvin on Matthew 4:18–end

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 4:18-22

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 4:21

John Gill on Matthew 4:21

John Calvin on Matthew 4:18–end

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Matthew 4:20-22