Luke 5:1-11
They were apparently prosperous, even having hired help Mark 1: Their commitment and sacrifice were and would be enormous. Various species of freshwater fish in the Sea of Galilee were caught with the different types of nets. Renowned Galilee scholar Mendel Nun has described the three types of fish. Peter's fish, was, according to tradition, the type of fish caught by Peter. This fish is found on the northern end of the sea, near the area of Jesus' ministry and Peter's fishing. It grows up to 15 inches long and three pounds in weight. It has relatively few bones and is very tasty. Take my word for it!
It is likely that this is the kind of fish Jesus used to feed 5, people Matt. Biny, a member of the carp family, was used in Bible lands for feasts and banquets. Sardines are small fish that were caught in enormous numbers. Drying and pickling sardines was the main industry of Magdala, home of Mary Magdalene. These are probably the "small fish" referred to in the Bible Matt. When Jesus asked the disciples to put the net on the other side of the boat near Capernaum and Bethsaida and they caught a large number of fish, they probably caught musht.
Their skill in catching, processing, and selling fish provided a ready teaching tool for Jesus. He used imagery from their occupation to explain that they must use the same care and devotion in bringing his message to the world. The fishing industry in the area where Jesus ministered, and the fishermen among his disciples, provided effective images for the lessons Jesus taught his audiences. The disciples' task was to become "fishermen" for the kingdom.
The long hours, the carefully practiced skills, and the various techniques and nets used in catching specific kinds of fish all must have passed through their minds. Seeking people to follow Jesus would take the same care, dedication, and skill used in fishing Matt. The disciples learned that they must seek all kinds of people to follow Jesus, though some would eventually turn away. The fishing motif apparent in Jesus' teaching about the kingdom was so strong that the Greek word for fish ichthus came to represent Jesus' name. The fish itself appropriately became a symbol for Jesus.
As his disciples, we must learn the lessons he taught, becoming his new fishers of men and women and finding ways to bring all kinds of people to him. In April fishing was banned in the Sea of Galilee. This was the first time in 5, years the Sea did not provide fish for the local population. Fishing stocks had diminished due to overfishing and a virus had infected the most important fish, a species of tilapia known locally as St. In one million healthy tilapias were released into the Sea to try to revive the species and the waters, as the fish feeds on a toxic weed that grows in the Sea.
The Sea of Galilee also known as Lake of Gennesaret is a fresh water lake in Israel 13 miles long and seven miles wide. Since biblical times the lake has been an important source of protein for the surrounding land and beyond. The fishing industry flourished in the time of Jesus with the ruling tetrarchs Herod and Philip, sons of King Herod, who made great investments in the industry and provided a stable political environment for it to grow.
The ancient Jewish historian Josephus states that there were more than fishing boats working the Sea during that period. The Apostles Peter and Andrew and their cousins were part of this highly successful industry. They owned their boat and had a house in the city of Capernaum, an extraordinary accomplishment in a land dominated by large estates and menial labor.
Fishing in the Bible and the Ancient Near East
The apostles fished for three main species: However they were able to sell catfish to Greek communities on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee. The fish they caught after they paid the tax man and their hired labor was sold locally, or salted and preserved to be marketed in places like Jerusalem and even Greece. Fish too small to be marketed were mixed with the entrails of the cleaned fish and salted in a vat. The vats were kept in the sun while the mixture fermented. Eventually the liquid was strained off and marketed as garum, a fish sauce that was used in almost every meal in the Roman empire.
Distributers of garum made the equivalent of millions of dollars each year. Meat is seldom mentioned in the Gospels Luke Fish, however, was the most important source of protein for Jesus and his followers. When Jesus provided food for the multitude it was loaves and fishes John 6: The fish mentioned in these passages were dried or salted and had to be broiled in order to be edible. It had a crew of five: The supervisor also had to keep a close eye on the weather because storms could quickly develop over the Sea Matthew 8: The boat could carry a half ton of fish or between 11 to 13 passengers; it was big enough for Jesus to sleep at the bottom of the boat Mark 4: Hook and line fishing is used to catch nearly any fish that will bit, from sharks to blue gills.
In the ancient near east, fishing was not seen as a recreational activity rather a source of food to sustain the body and the family. Though this was not a very popular method of fishing during the time of the Bible it is mention once in the Gospels and would not be much different than what we do today. There would have been a metal hook of some sort on the end of a line, and on that hook would have been the bait. The bait that would have been used was probably one of the sardines mentioned above.
The final main method of fishing during the time of the Bible is not mentioned in the New Testament at all, as it was it was more popular in Mediterranean fishing. This method uses a spear or harpoon.
Jesus Calls Four Fishermen to Follow Him. Commentary - The Fourfold Gospel
Using a spear to fish with yields much less fish than that of a net and thus would not have been used for commercial use, rather for individual use or to feed a family. Spear fishing was done at night which makes it easier to see the fish. The Bible alludes to this method in Job Though most of the equipment that would have been used for fishing in the ancient near east has been mentioned about, such as; nets, hooks, lines, and spears.
There was another piece of invaluable equipment that would have been a requirement if you wanted to make fishing you occupation.
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That piece of equipment would have been a boat. Wooden thole-pins are used when rowing. The oars are square in the loom, and very heavy.
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It is a common sight to see the Arab fishermen standing to their oars when rowing. The mast is fixed about two-thirds of the distance from stern to stem. Both fore and aft there is a small decked-in space; the latter being used to stow the net when the crew are not fishing. As has been already stated, a lateen sail is used.
A normal crew consists of four men. This discovery was an ancient fishing boat that has been dated back to the first century. Discovered in mud near Magdala, this boat is nine meters in length and two and a half meters in width and a little over a meter high. These dimensions are consistent with those of the boats used by Dragnet fishermen.
Once the harvest of fish has been caught we see the all important goal of turning this smelly pile of fish in to a heaping pile of money.
The end goal for the commercial fishermen is to turn a profit off of the hours of hard work that have been toiled. There were two basic types of markets for fish. The first is the local market which would have been privy to the benefits of being close to a fishing community. This would result in the use of fresh fish for meals, and really getting the best of the best that was available. The non-local market did not have the advantage to have fresh fish.
Many miles would have been traveled to bring fish to a city depending on its location, which could take many days. Since we do not see the modern invent of the ice-box during Biblical times the fish would have had to been preserved in other ways.
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That such was in fact the case is strongly suggested by the name of one harbor, Taricheae, 'the Fish Factory. The Aramaic name Magdala is known only from the adjective Magdalene, attached to the name of Mary, the disciple of Jesus who came from Magdala Lk 8: One can not go to the area of the Sea of Galilee and not try this special fish which gets is popularity from the scriptures:.
After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, "Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax? When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.
The first important thing to notice from the passage is what method of fishing Peter is using. This indicates that Peter will be using a hook and line method for catching this fish. As mentioned above this method would have required the use of bait being placed on the hook. This bait would have been some type of minnow or sardine. There is no way that such a method would have caught the popular musht as it is a fish that feeds solely off of plankton. More likely is that Peter had caught one of the fish in the Biny species as they are predatory feeder and would have no problem taking the bait.
It was good for tourism! The Sea of Galilee has always attracted visitors and pilgrims, and the musht is part of the unique local cuisine today raised mostly in ponds. The most popular and easily prepared fish acquired the most marketable name! As most food the Bible gives the nation of Israel instruction as to the fish they eat, and the fish that they should not eat.
The book of Leviticus states: But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales—whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water—you are to detest.
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And since you are to detest them, you must not eat their meat and you must detest their carcasses. Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be detestable to you. This brings us to the Catfish, which is a scale-less fish and thus seen as unclean to the Jewish people. Since this was an unclean fish it would not have been eaten and because of that the catfish had very little economic importance.
Not only was this fish not eaten, but hated. Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? Odd as it many seen to us, this comparison was fairly widespread. When most people picture a fisherman they probably envision a working class man with little education that is rough around the edges. This would not be a person that many would feel comfortable going up to and making a new friend of. As fishing was a trade occupation a fisherman would have come into contact with many people from different backgrounds.
It was likely that the fishermen on the Sea of Galilee would have been fluent in at least Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic, as the merchants buying the fish may have been coming from different areas. The fisherman would have also needed to be more than proficient in mathematics, as they would have had to know how many of each type of fish they had caught and what kind of market value it should bring.
It is also probable that average fisherman would have had a decent income in comparison to many other trades.