Matthew 4:20
Matthew 4:20 is the twentieth verse of the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. Jesus has just begun preaching in Galilee and has encountered the fishermen Simon Peter and Andrew. He has called them to follow him as "fishers of men", and in this verse the pair take up his offer.
Content
The original Koine Greek, according to The [New Testament in the Original Greek|Westcott and Hort], reads:In the King James Version of the Bible, the text reads:
The World [English Bible] translates the passage as:
For a collection of other versions see .
Analysis
The traditional view is that the decision to join Jesus after this brief meeting was an example of his divine power. France, however, notes that this view is not explicit in the Gospel and that the alternate view that Jesus knew, and was even close friends, with both men beforehand is perfectly possible. John 1 and imply this version of events. Clarke notes that as a carpenter one of Jesus' tasks might very well have been building and repairing fishing vessels and he thus had many opportunities to interact and befriend fishers such as Simon and Andrew.Albright and Mann note that Matthew consistently emphasizes the importance of renunciation in coming to Jesus, as represented by the fishers' abandonment of their nets. Fishing was a profitable, but capital intensive, occupation and abandoning everything would have been an important sacrifice. Clarke notes that this abandonment of worldly possessions was taken as a model by later Christian ascetics.
Commentary from the Church Fathers
Pseudo-Chrysostom: These disciples did not follow Christ from desire of the honour of a doctor, but because they coveted the labour itself; they knew how precious is the soul of man, how pleasant to God is his salvation, and how great its reward.Chrysostom: To so great a promise they trusted, and believed that they should catch others by those same words by which themselves had been caught.
Pseudo-Chrysostom: These were their desires, for which they left all and followed; teaching us thereby that none can possess earthly things and perfectly attain to heavenly things.