Preface: In this chapter, Jesus calls a number of disciples to follow Him. He performs a number of miracles and healings in this chapter, all of which are also object lessons for those who witness them. At the end of Luke 5, the religious types start to become aware that direct interactions with Jesus do not go their way.

Bible Summary: Simon, James and John left everything and followed Jesus. Jesus forgave and healed a paralytic. The Pharisees asked him about fasting.

This should be the most extensive examination of Luke 5 available, where you will be able to examine in depth every word of the original text.

Outline of Chapter 5:

Preface

Introduction

         vv.     1–11         Jesus Calls to Himself His First Four Disciples

         vv.    12–16         Jesus Cures a Leper and Gives Him Specific Instructions to Follow

         vv.    17–26         Jesus Heals a Paralytic and Forgives Him for his Sins

         vv.    27–32         Jesus Calls Levi (aka, Matthew) as a Disciple; Levi’s Great Celebratory Feast

         vv.    33–39         Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting (as John’s Disciples Did); He Answers in Parables

Chapter Summary

Addendum

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines:

         Preface               Quotations

         Introduction         Titles and/or Brief Descriptions of Luke 5 (by Various Commentators)

         Introduction         Brief, but insightful observations of Luke 5 (various commentators)

         Introduction         Fundamental Questions About Luke 5

         Introduction 

         Introduction         The Prequel of Luke 5

         Introduction         The Principals of Luke 5

         Introduction         The Places of Luke 5

         Introduction         By the Numbers

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Luke 5

         Introduction         Outlines and Summaries of Luke 5 (Various Commentators)

         Introduction         Shmoop Summary of Luke 5

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Luke 5 from the Summarized Bible

         Introduction 

         Introduction 

         Introduction         The Big Picture (Luke 3–6)

         Introduction         Paragraph Divisions of Modern Translation for Luke 5

         Introduction 

         Introduction 

         Introduction         Changes—additions and subtractions

         v.       1              Jesus’ Ministry on the Sea of Galilee (Luke 5:1)

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         v.       4              Luke 5:4 (The Common English Bible) (a graphic)

         v.       5              Luke 5:5c (NIV) (a graphic)

         v.       6              Jesus Tells Peter to Go Out to Deeper Waters (a graphic)

         v.       8              The Miraculous Draught of Fishes (by James Tissot) (a graphic)

         v.       8              Luke 5:8 (WEB) (a graphic)

         v. 

         v.      10c-e         A brief synopsis of Luke 5:4–10b

         v.      10c-e         Jesus’ Ministry and His Humanity

         v.      10c-e         Luke 5:10d-e (ESV) (a graphic)

         v.      11              Luke 5:10–11 (NIV) (a graphic)

         v.      11              Jesus Calls His First Disciples (a comparison)

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         v. 

         v.      14              A brief review of Luke 5:12–14a

         v.      14              Jesus Heals the Leper (a graphic)

         v.      14              The Ritual Cleansing of a Cured Leper (Leviticus 14:1–32)

         v.      15              Luke 5:15 (NIV) (a graphic)

         v.      15              Luke 5 ESV Word Cloud (a graphic)

         v.      16              Luke 5:16 (The Passion Translation) (a graphic)

         v.      16              Luke 5:16 (KJV) (a graphic)

         v.      17              A brief review of Luke 5:17a-c

         v.      17              The Power of the Lord was with Jesus to Heal

         v.      19              The Paralytic is Lowered from the Roof Before Jesus (a graphic)

         v.      20              Luke 5:20 (NIV) (a graphic)

         v.      23              Luke 5:23 (CSB) (a graphic)

         v.      23              A brief review of Luke 5:20–23

         v.      23              The Men Lower the Paralytic Before Jesus (a graphic)

         v.      25              A brief summary of Luke 5:20–25

         v. 

         v.      26              Separation and a Realignment of Loyalties

         v.      26              The Five Solas of Protestantism

         v.      26              Luke 5:26 (NIV) (a graphic)

         v.      27              The Calling of Matthew (James Tissot, French, 1836-1902)

         v.      28              A brief review of Luke 5:27–58

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         v.      31              Luke 5:32 (NIV) (a graphic)

         v.      32              Luke 5:31–32 (KJV) (a graphic)

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         v.      36              A brief review of Luke 5:30–35

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         Summary            A Set of Summary Doctrines and Commentary

         Summary            Why Luke 5 is in the Word of God

         Summary            What We Learn from Luke 5

         Summary            Jesus Christ in Luke 5

         Summary            A review of Luke 5

         Summary            Israel at the Time of Jesus (a map)

Summary

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of Luke 5

         Addendum          Doctrinal Teachers Who Have Taught Luke 5

         Addendum          Word Cloud from a Reasonably Literal Paraphrase of Luke 5

         Addendum          Word Cloud from Exegesis of Luke 5

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An Introduction to Luke 5

I ntroduction: Luke 5, like most of the chapters in Luke, is a combination of several historic incidents which took place during the life of Christ (primarily during the 3–4 year public ministry which He had), along with some teaching which He did (which was sometimes based upon the incidents which took place).

For the most part, the events of this chapter probably took place at roughly the same time, and in roughly the same chronological order as they are found in this chapter (however, we must bear in mind that not all incidents in Luke’s gospel agree with the order of parallel incidents recorded by Matthew or Mark).

We begin this chapter with Jesus possibly considering the logical need for assistants. We are not told that He is thinking about this; we do know that He is pressed on all sides by a crowd of people, where His back is to the Sea of Galilee. Although He will figure out a way to speak to this crowd of people who are pressing ever closer to Him, that will involve Him relying upon Peter, who is not yet a called disciple.

The problem was simply that too many people were interested in Jesus, but they kept pushing closer and closer to Him, giving Him no room and nowhere to go.

I believe as a result of this incident that Jesus will call 4 disciples in this chapter (only 3 are named by Luke—Peter, James and John—but there are clearly 4 men called by Him in the parallel accounts). When Jesus calls them as His disciples, they drop everything and follow Him.

Throughout the gospels, it often seems as if Jesus points to a stranger and says, “Hey, you; come follow Me;” and they do. However, this is certainly not the first time that Jesus met Simon (Peter). An incident involving Simon is recorded in the previous chapter.

In this chapter, it is an interesting encounter. Peter (and, apparently John and James) have been fishing all night, but without catching a single thing. Then Jesus repositions Peter’s boat slightly, and he catches so many fish that they overwhelm both boats. Then Jesus said that He would make Simon a fisher of men and Peter left everything to follow Jesus.

The second incident recorded in this chapter (vv. 12–16) is all about Jesus cleansing a leper. Jesus does not tell this leper, “Hey, tell your friends about Me.” Jesus simply sends that leper to the local priest in order to follow a ceremony found in Leviticus, when a leper is cleansed.

The third incident has Jesus teaching in a house (or in a courtyard), and He is surrounded by people so that 4 men and a paralyzed man cannot come anywhere near to Jesus for healing. These men want their friend (relative or associate) healed; and they all apparently believed that Jesus could do this.

The men decide to go onto the roof and lower the paralyzed man down before Jesus. Jesus speaks of their faith as saving him. Most importantly, Jesus forgives this man his sins, which apparently causes several religious types, who are there in the crowd observing Jesus, to become quite disconcerted. Jesus therefore poses this question to the religious types: “Is it easier for Me to say, ‘Your sins or forgiven’ or ‘Get up and walk’?” As the people witnessing this ponder that question, Jesus tells the man to stand up and walk, sending him back to his home. It is almost like the misdirection of sleight of hand.

The fourth incident is Jesus calling Levi (Matthew), a tax collector, to follow Him. Levi holds a massive party to celebrate all of these things and Jesus then explains to some religious types why He is hanging out with tax collectors and sinners.

Finally, the fifth incident involves pharisees and other religious types questioning the disciples about Jesus and his followers not fasting as John the baptizer did with his disciples. Jesus explains this by speaking 4 different parables.

These incidents do not appear to be connected to each other, although it is certainly possible that #5 occurs at Matthew’s party. However, it is equally possible that Jesus gave one parable at one time, and the other three at another. I don’t know that there are any connective words which clearly tie these 5 (or 6) incidents together. These could simply be things which occurred early on in the Lord’s ministry (I say early on, as Jesus calls 5 disciples in this chapter).

What Jesus says takes up approximately a third of this chapter. As we move further along in the book of Luke, more and more of each chapter will be given over to Jesus’ teaching.

As I began this chapter, one of the things which struck me—and I should have really noticed this much earlier—is the Lord’s humanity. This is an important factor in this chapter of Luke, and I suspect, in many of them. We tend to emphasize the Lord’s Deity because the unbelieving world (and even some cults) reject that Jesus is God. So often, we put so much emphasis upon this truth that we forget that Jesus is also very human. He is not part-man and part-God—He is not 50% of each. Jesus is fully God and He is fully man. Throughout most (or all) of His life on earth, Jesus chose to live as a man, with the very same limitations to which we are subject (although, because Jesus does not have a sin nature, His body is not corrupt—both the body and soul of everyone else are corrupted by the sin nature).

There are things which come with Jesus choosing to function fully as man (I believe that His entire ministry was the humanity of Jesus). He does not call upon His Own omnipotence or omniscience. All divine traits are available to Jesus, but He sets these things aside and does not use them or depend upon them. I am leaning towards this being the case throughout His entire public ministry.

One might compare Jesus to Clark Kent, the secret identify of Superman, where, as Kent, he does not use his super powers (I am drawing an analogy here, so just go with it). Whereas, Clark Kent often takes off his glasses and bursts forth as Superman, Jesus does not appear to do that. In fact, even when He is glorified, I would guess that this was done by the power of God the Holy Spirit and not through any employment of Jesus’ innate power.

Particularly at the beginning of this chapter, I consider the events that are taking place and intertwine this with Jesus, in His humanity. Considering His humanity alone, what might I conclude about these interactions, is the focus of my thinking early on.

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Jesus Calls to Himself His First Four Disciples

Matthew 4:18–22 Mark 1:16–20

As an aside, in the Lukian narrative, only 3 disciples are named specifically. However, Peter’s brother Andrew is named in the other 2 narratives.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:                       Note: I will use the Westcott-Hort Greek text as the basis for my English translation. I use that test primarily because e-sword has a nice module by Rob Wolfram which has the interlinear English text, Strong’s #’s, and the Greek morphology. The e-sword tab is IWH+P. I do not use their English text for my translation. Also, throughout, I take in consideration alternate readings.

As a young Christian, I was quite interested in the alternative readings. After many decades of study, I have found that, as with the Hebrew text, disputed readings rarely have any affect on the interpretation of a text (apart from perhaps a half-dozen fairly well-known alternate readings, like the end of the book of Mark).

I will compare the Greek text to English translations of the Latin and Syriac (= Aramaic) texts, using the Douay-Rheims translation and George Lamsa’s translation from the Syriac. I often update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.).

In general, the Latin text is an outstanding translation from the Hebrew text into Latin and very trustworthy (I say this as a non-Catholic). Unfortunately, I do not read Latin—apart from some very obvious words—so I am dependent upon the English translation of the Latin (principally, the Douay-Rheims translation).

The Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scrolls are irrelevant, as they preceded the writing of the New Testament by over 200 years.

Underlined words indicate differences in the text.

Ancient texts:

Westcott-Hort Text (Greek)    And it was that the crowd was pressing [upon] Him and hearing the Word of the God and He was having stood by the Lake Gennesaret; and He saw ships two having stood by the lake and the fishermen [were] away from them washing the nets.

Revised Douay-Rheims         .

Douay-Rheims 1899 (Amer.) And it came to pass, that when the multitudes pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Genesareth,

And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

V. Alexander’s Aramaic T.     .

James Murdock’s Syriac NT And it occurred, that a multitude gathered about him, to hear the word of God. And he was standing by the side of the sea of Gennesaret, and he saw two ships standing near the sea, and the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

Original Aramaic NT              Now it happened that when the crowd gathered around him to hear the word of God, and he was standing on the side of the Lake of Genesar. He saw two ships that stood on the shore of the lake and the fishermen who had come down from them and were washing their nets.

Plain English Aramaic Bible   .

Lamsa Peshitta (Syriac)         IT came to pass when the people gath ered around him to hear the word of God, he stood on the shore of the lake of Gennesaret. And he saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had got out of them, and were washing their nets.

Significant differences: 

English Translations:          I have included translations which I disagree with and footnotes that I do not necessarily agree with. If I believe that the author is too far from the truth, I may even address that at the footnote. However, nearly all of the correct commentary will be found following the Greek text box and the translation of each phrase.

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

Bible in Basic English             Now it came about that while the people came pushing to be near him, and to have knowledge of the word of God, he was by a wide stretch of water named Gennesaret; And he saw two boats by the edge of the water, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.

Bible in Worldwide English     The people came close around Jesus to hear Gods word. He was standing by Lake Gennesaret ^{<FI>the Sea of Galilee<Fi>} . He saw two boats by the water. The fishermen were not in their boats. They were washing their nets.

Easy English                          Jesus asks some men to go with him

One day, Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret. A crowd was pushing to get near to him. They were listening to him. He was speaking God's message to them.

‘Lake Gennesaret’ is another name for the ‘Sea of Galilee’. The town called Capernaum is on the shore of this lake.

Jesus saw two fishing boats at the edge of the lake. The fishermen had left the boats there and they were now washing their nets.

The fishermen caught fish from the lake with nets. They tied thin rope together to make these. They washed them after they had been out to catch fish. And then they mended them. The nets were then ready for them to use again.

Easy-to-Read Version–2001  .

Easy-to-Read Version–2006  Jesus Chooses Some Followers

As Jesus stood beside Lake Galilee,[a] a crowd of people pushed to get closer to him and to hear the teachings of God. Jesus saw two boats at the shore of the lake. The fishermen were washing their nets.

God’s Word™                         .

Good News Bible (TEV)         .

The Message                         Push Out into Deep Water

Once when he was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret, the crowd was pushing in on him to better hear the Word of God. He noticed two boats tied up. The fishermen had just left them and were out scrubbing their nets.

NIRV                                      Jesus Chooses His First Disciples

One day Jesus was standing by the Sea of Galilee. The people crowded around him and listened to the word of God. Jesus saw two boats at the edge of the water. They had been left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.

New Life Version                    Jesus Calls Simon and James and John

While Jesus was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, many people pushed to get near Him. They wanted to hear the Word of God. Jesus saw two boats on the shore. The fishermen were not there because they were washing their nets.

New Simplified Bible              .

Thought-for-thought translations; dynamic translations; paraphrases:

Contemporary English V.       Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret, teaching the people as they crowded around him to hear God's message. Near the shore he saw two boats left there by some fishermen who had gone to wash their nets.

The Living Bible                     .

New Berkeley Version           .

New Century Version             .

New Living Translation           The First Disciples

One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee,[a] great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets.

The Passion Translation        The Miracle Catch of Fish

On one occasion, Jesus was preaching to the crowds on the shore of Lake Galilee. [Or “Gennesaret,” which is known as Lake Galilee.] There was a vast multitude of people pushing to get close to Jesus to hear the word of God. He noticed two fishing boats at the water’s edge, with the fishermen nearby, rinsing their nets.

Unlocked Dynamic Bible        One day, while many people were crowding around Jesus and listening to him teach Yahweh’s message, he was standing next to Lake Gennesaret. He saw two fishing boats there at the edge of the lake. The fishermen had left the boats and were washing their fishing nets.

Williams’ New Testament      .

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          Well, there was an occasion when people were crowded very close to [Jesus] as they listened to the word of God, while he was standing beside Lake GenNesaret. So, noticing two boats that were docked at the lakeside where the fishermen had gotten out and were washing off their nets,...

Beck’s American Translation .

Breakthrough Version            It happened during the time for the crowd to be leaning on Him and to be hearing God's message; He also had stood along Gennesaret Lake. And He saw two boats that have stood along the lake. After the fishermen climbed out of them, they were rinsing the nets.

Common English Bible           Jesus calls disciples

One day Jesus was standing beside Lake Gennesaret when the crowd pressed in around him to hear God’s word. Jesus saw two boats sitting by the lake. The fishermen had gone ashore and were washing their nets.

International Standard V        Jesus Calls His First Disciples

One day, as the crowd was pressing in on him to listen to God’s word, Jesus [Lit. he] was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats lying on the shore, but the fishermen had stepped out of them and were washing their nets.

Len Gane Paraphrase           It came to pass that as the people pressed on him to hear the word of God, he stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two ships lying by the lake, but the fishermen were out of them washing their nets.

A. Campbell's Living Oracles Now it happened, as he stood by the lake Gennesaret, the multitude pressing upon him to hear the word of God; that seeing two barks aground, near the shore, the fishermen having landed to wash their nets,...

New Advent (Knox) Bible       It happened that he was standing by the lake of Genesareth, at a time when the multitude was pressing close about him to hear the word of God; and he saw two boats moored at the edge of the lake; the fishermen had gone ashore, and were washing their nets.

NT for Everyone                     The Miraculous Catch of Fish

One day, as the crowds were pressing close to him to hear the word of God, Jesus was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats moored by the land; the fishermen had gone ashore and were washing their nets.

20^th Century New Testament Once, when the people were pressing round Jesus as the listened to God's Message, he happened to be standing by the shore of the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats close to the shore. The fishermen had gone away from them and were washing the nets.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Alpha & Omega Bible            NOW IT HAPPENED THAT WHILE THE CROWD WAS PRESSING AROUND HIM AND LISTENING TO THE WORD OF THEOS (The Alpha & Omega), HE WAS STANDING BY THE LAKE OF GENNESARET; AND HE SAW TWO BOATS LYING AT THE EDGE OF THE LAKE; BUT THE FISHERMEN HAD GOTTEN OUT OF THEM AND WERE WASHING THEIR NETS.

Conservapedia Translation    Subsequently, as the crowd pressed against Him to hear God's word, Jesus stood on the shore of Gennesaret's lake. Jesus noticed two boats at the seaside, but their fishermen had left them to wash their nets.

ὄχλος is better translated as "crowd" than "people"; "subsequently" is better than the cumbersome "it came to pass"

"boats" is more precise than "ships"

Evangelical Heritage V.          The Calling of the First Disciples

One time, while the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. [This is the Sea of Galilee.] He saw two boats there along the lakeshore. The fishermen had left them and were washing their nets.

Ferrar-Fenton Bible                The Obedient Fishermen

It once occurred that, while He was standing bythe Lake of Gennes- aret, the crowd pressed around Him, in order to listen to the message of God. And He observed two boats lying at anchor at the lake side; but the fishermen had left them, and were washing their nets:...

Free Bible Version                 .

God’s Truth (Tyndale)           It came to pass as the people pressed upon him, to hear the word of God, that he stood by the lake of Gennezareth: and saw two ships stand by the lake side, but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

Jubilee Bible 2000                  And it came to pass that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret and saw two ships that were by the shore of the lake, but the fishermen were gone out of them and were washing their nets.

Montgomery NT                     On one occasion when he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, the crowd pressed upon him to listen to the word of God. But he saw two fishing-boats on the shore of the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.

NIV, ©2011                             .

Riverside New Testament      .

Leicester A. Sawyer’s NT      .

Unlocked Literal Bible            .

Urim-Thummim Version         And it came about that as the people pressed upon him to hear the Word of Elohim, he stood by Lake Gennesaret, and saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen had left them, and were washing off their nets.

Weymouth New Testament    On one occasion the crowd was pressing on Him and listening to God's Message, while He was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. He, however, saw two fishing-boats drawn up on the beach (for the men had gone away from them and were washing the nets),...

Wikipedia Bible Project          .

Catholic Bibles (those having the imprimatur):

Christian Community (1988)     One day, as Jesus stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, with a crowd gathered around him listening to the word of God, he caught sight of two boats left at the water's edge by the fishermen now washing their nets.

The Heritage Bible                 And it was, that as the crowd was pressing upon him to hear the word of God, he also was standing alongside of the lake of Gennesaret, And saw two boats standing alongside the lake, and the fishers having disembarked from them, were washing the nets.

New American Bible (2002)   .

New American Bible (2011)   .

New English Bible–1970        The Calling of the First Disciples (Capernaum)[ Lk.5.1-11 → ] - Mt.4.18-22, Mk.1.16-20

One day as he stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and the people crowded upon him to listen to the word of God, he noticed two boats lying at the water's edge; the fishermen had come ashore and were washing their nets.

New Jerusalem Bible             Now it happened that he was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats at the water's edge. The fishermen had got out of them and were washing their nets.

New RSV                               Once while Jesus [Gk he] was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.

Revised English Bible–1989   One day as he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, with people crowding in on him to listen to the word of God, he noticed two boats lying at the water's edge; the fishermen had come ashore and were washing their nets.

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           One day, as Yeshua was standing on the shore of Lake Kinneret, with the people pressing in around him in order to hear the word of God, he noticed two boats pulled up on the beach, left there by the fishermen, who were cleaning their nets.

exeGeses companion Bible   THE FIRST DISCIPLES OF YAH SHUA

And so be it,

as the multitude imposes on him

to hear the word of Elohim,

he stands by the lake of Kinneroth

and sees two sailers standing by the lake:

but the fishers had turned from them,

rinsing their nets:...

Hebraic Roots Bible               .

The Israel Bible (beta)            .

The Scriptures 1998              And it came to be, while the crowd was pressing upon Him to hear the word of Elohim, that He stood by the Lake of Gennĕsar, and He saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.

Tree of Life Version                Calling Fishermen at the Kinneret

It happened that the crowds were pressing upon Yeshua to hear the word of God as He was standing by the Lake of Kinneret, when He saw two boats standing beside the lake. Now the fishermen had left them and were washing the nets.

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

The Amplified Bible                .

An Understandable Version   Now it happened while Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Genneseret [i.e., Lake Galilee] that the crowd was pushing closer to Him to hear God’s message. He saw two boats [tied up] along the shore of the lake, for the fishermen had left them [there] and were washing their nets [i.e., on the beach].

The Expanded Bible              Jesus’ First Followers

One day while Jesus was standing beside ·Lake Galilee [^L the Lake of Gennesaret; ^C another name for the Sea of Galilee], many people were ·pressing [crowding] all around him to hear the word of God. Jesus saw two boats at the shore of the lake. The fishermen had left them and were washing their nets.

Jonathan Mitchell NT             Now this happened during the [situation, or time, that] the crowd continued pressing close and imposing upon Him in order to be listening to and hearing the Word from God (or: God's thoughts and ideas; God's message), and He Himself was there, standing beside Lake Gennesaret. And He saw two sailing vessels moored at the lakeside (= at the shore), but the fishermen, after disembarking from them, had started washing the nets.

P. Kretzmann Commentary    The Miraculous Draught of Fishes and the Call of the First Disciples. Luke 5:1-11

Preaching on the shore of the sea:

And it came to pass that, as the people pressed upon Him to hear the Word of God, He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret,

and saw two ships standing by the lake; but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

Syndein/Thieme                     {The Calling of the Disciples}

And it came to pass {means of indicating chronological progression} while the people crowded up against Him {Jesus} and were listening to the Word of God that He Himself took His stand beside the Lake of Gennesaret {name means 'a harp - it was called the sea of Galilee or the sea of Tiberias. The lake was 12 by 7 miles (20 by 11 km) and 700 feet (210 m) below the Mediterranean Sea}.

He {Jesus} saw/perceived two boats moored by the lake, but the fishermen having disembarked were cleaning their nets.

Translation for Translators                        Jesus chose some fishermen to be his disciples.

Luke 5:1-11

One day while many people were crowding around him to hear the message from God, Jesus was standing on the shore of Gennesaret Lake, which is also called Lake Galilee. He saw two fishing boats at the edge of the lake. The fishermen had gone out of the boats and were washing their fishing nets on the shore. One of the boats belonged to Simon.

The Voice                               Picture these events:

On the banks of Gennesaret Lake, a huge crowd, Jesus in the center of it, presses in to hear His message from God. Off to the side, fishermen are washing their nets, leaving their boats unattended on the shore.

Bible Translations with an Excess of Footnotes:

Disciples’ Literal New T.        .

NET Bible®                             The Call of the Disciples

Now¹ Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,² and the crowd was pressing around him³ to hear the word of God. He⁴ saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets.

^1tn Grk “Now it happened that.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

^2sn The Lake of Gennesaret is another name for the Sea of Galilee. Cf. the parallel in Matt 4:18.

^3sn The image of the crowd pressing around him suggests the people leaning forward to catch Jesus’ every word.

^4tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

New American Bible (2011)   The Call of Simon the Fisherman.* [5:1–11] Mt 4:18–22; Mk 1:16–20.

While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.

[5:1–3] Mt 13:1–2; Mk 2:13; 3:9–10; 4:1–2.

* [5:1–11] This incident has been transposed from his source, Mk 1:16–20, which places it immediately after Jesus makes his appearance in Galilee. By this transposition Luke uses this example of Simon’s acceptance of Jesus to counter the earlier rejection of him by his hometown people, and since several incidents dealing with Jesus’ power and authority have already been narrated, Luke creates a plausible context for the acceptance of Jesus by Simon and his partners. Many commentators have noted the similarity between the wondrous catch of fish reported here (Lk 5:4–9) and the post-resurrectional appearance of Jesus in Jn 21:1–11. There are traces in Luke’s story that the post-resurrectional context is the original one: in Lk 5:8 Simon addresses Jesus as Lord (a post-resurrectional title for Jesus—see Lk 24:34; Acts 2:36—that has been read back into the historical ministry of Jesus) and recognizes himself as a sinner (an appropriate recognition for one who has denied knowing Jesus—Lk 22:54–62). As used by Luke, the incident looks forward to Peter’s leadership in Luke-Acts (Lk 6:14; 9:20; 22:31–32; 24:34; Acts 1:15; 2:14–40; 10:11–18; 15:7–12) and symbolizes the future success of Peter as fisherman (Acts 2:41).

The Spoken English NT         Jesus Calls his First Followers (Mt. 4:18-22; Mk 1:16-20)
One time, Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret,^a with the crowd pressing in on him and listening to the message of God. And he saw two boats sitting on the lake. The fishermen had gotten out of them, and were washing their nets.

^a.Prn. gen-ness-er-et, another name for Lake Galilee.

Wilbur Pickering’s New T.     By the sea
Now it happened, as He had come along the Lake of Genesaret, that the multitude crowded Him to hear the Word of God; He saw two boats standing by the lake (the fishermen were out of them, washing their nets).

Weird English, Olde English, Anachronistic English Translations:

Accurate New Testament       ...[It] becomes but in the+ the crowd to press him and to hear the word [of] the god and He was Having Stood against the lake {of} gennesaret and [He] sees two boats having stood against the lake The but Fishermen from them Coming (Out) washed the nets...

Awful Scroll Bible                   Moreover itself came to be, from-within they of the adjoining area to ~stand-over-against Him, to listen to the Word of God, even He was having stood by the lake of Gennesaret. Now He perceived two ships having stood beside the lake, but they of the salty sea being stepped-away from them, washed-out that theirs to cast.

Concordant Literal Version    Now it occurred, as the throng is importuning Him and hearing the word of God, He also was standing beside lake Gennesaret, and he perceived two ships standing beside the lake. Now the fishers, stepping off from them, rinse off the nets."

The Disciple's Bible                .

Orthodox Jewish Bible           Now it came about that while the multitude was listening to the dvar Hashem and pressing in upon Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach, he had been standing beside Lake Kinneret,

And he saw two sirot (boats) having been beside the lake. But the daiyagim (fishermen) had left them and were cleaning the nets.

Rotherham’s Emphasized B. And it came to pass, while the multitude was pressing upon him, and was hearing the word of God, that, he, was standing near the lake of Gennesaret; and he saw two boats placed near the lake, and, the fishers, having gone away, from them, were washing their nets.

Third Millennium Bible            .

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Analytical-Literal Translation  .

Charles Thompson NT           .

Context Group Version          .

English Standard Version      .

Far Above All Translation       AND IT CAME TO PASS DURING THE [TIME] THE CROWD PRESSED ON HIM TO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD, THAT HE WAS STANDING BY THE LAKE OF GENNESARET : AND HE SAW TWO SHIPS STANDING BY THE LAKE, BUT THE FISHERMEN HAVING GONE OUT FROM THEM WASHED THE NETS.

Green’s Literal Translation    .

Literal New Testament           .

Modern English Version         The Calling of the First Disciples

As the people pressed upon Him to hear the word of God, He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret and saw two boats beside the lake. But the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.

Modern Literal Version           {Mk 1:16-20 & Mt 4:18-22 & Lk 5:1-11 Sea of Galilee near Capernaum.}

Now it happened, while* the crowd jammed against him to hear the word of God, that he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; and he saw two ships standing empty by the lake, but the fishermen, having stepped away from them, were rinsing their nets.

Modern KJV                           .

New American Standard B.    The First Disciples

Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets.

New European Version          The call of the disciples

Now it came to pass, while the crowd pressed upon him and heard the word of God, that he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. And he saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.

New King James Version       Four Fishermen Called as Disciples

So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.

NT (Variant Readings)           .

Niobi Study Bible                   .

Restored Holy Bible 6.0         .

Revised Young's Lit. Trans.   And it came to pass, in the multitude pressing on him to hear the word of God, that he was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats standing beside the lake, and the fishers, having gone away from them, were washing the nets,...

A Voice in the Wilderness      .

Updated Bible Version 2.17   .

Webster’s Translation           .

World English Bible                .

Young’s Updated LT             .

The gist of this passage:     There are multitudes of people pressed against Jesus to hear the Word of God while He is standing near the Lake of Gennesaret. Jesus sees two empty boats, the fishermen having gone away to wash their nets.

Translation: And it happened that the crowd was pressuring Jesus [lit., Him] and hearing the Word of God.

It appears that Jesus was teaching the Word of God; but the people apparently kept moving closer, pressing in on Him.

What I believe the situation is, Jesus, in His humanity, recognizes a need for assistants, helpers—disciples, in fact—to help control such situations. Big guys. Strong guys. The situation described here could use some security, if you will. I would assert that much that Jesus did was both in the plan of God as well as a logical step for Him.

Let me use this occasion to explain what I mean. Jesus is trying to teach a large crowd of people who are, for the most part, positive towards His message. However, these are people who have sin natures, and many of whom lack common sense. Why press so closely on the Lord, so that He has nowhere to go?

Jesus is certainly God, but, under the doctrine of Kenosis, He willingly sets aside His divine attributes. Obviously, this is not something which we can fully appreciate, each of us being 100% human and 0% divine. However, we have had examples in the past where, an all-powerful God could have done something, but Jesus did not. For instance, when Jesus was being tempted by Satan. Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. Now, since God knows everything all at once, was that really necessary? Let me suggest, yes, that Jesus in His humanity was not fully aware of every kingdom in the world.

It is very hard to find an analogous situation. Right now, the best I can come up with is a Jew in Germany during the second world war—a Jew who might do whatever is necessary to hide His Jewish heritage. His vocabulary, his traditions, even his clothing, is all set aside in favor of appearing to be German. Such a person would be fully aware of his Jewishness and the importance of suppressing it.

In reality, Jesus appears to operate nearly all of the time completely separate from His Deity.

What I am trying to say is, Jesus considers the situation, the crowds, the difficulty in speaking and teaching when so many people are crowding in upon Him; and realizes that He needs assistants. I believe that is why we find v. 1 leading us into Jesus choosing some disciples at this point. This uncontrolled crowd of people require some control.

There are other reasons why Jesus needs disciples. His teaching cannot be spread throughout the world apart from having disciples. Jesus will never write anything down; He limits Himself to a very small geographical area, and His earthly ministry would only last 3–4 years. Based upon all of this, there is no reason in the world that we should know anything about Him. However, His disciples will spread the word of salvation by faith alone in Christ alone. They will also teach Church Age doctrine.

Translation: He was standing by Lake Gennesaret...

At the time, Jesus was standing at the Lake—also known as the Sea of Galilee.

I believe that the name here is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name Kinnereth.

There are two verbs in this verse which are difficult to translate. There is the imperfect of to be (the imperfect indicates continues action in past time); but it is followed by a perfect participle of to stand. A perfect tense indicates an action in the past which has present-day results or affects.

So, what appears to be the case is, Jesus is somewhat trapped by the crowd at the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus’ Ministry on the Sea of Galilee (Luke 5:1); from the Casual English Bible; accessed September 3, 2021.

Luke 5:1 And it happened that the crowd was pressuring Jesus [lit., Him] and hearing the Word of God. He was standing by Lake Gennesaret...

We have just begin Luke 5 and Jesus is teaching at the shore of Galilee.

Jesus, when in Nazareth, was pressed in on all sides by a crowd who wanted to harm Him. But here, this is a friendly crowd, but they are moving too close to Him. Their movements so close to Him make His attempt to teach difficult.

The difference in the crowds now is, Jesus has both cast out a demon and healed a woman (Simon’s mother-in-law) (Luke 4:31–44). So people are flocking to Him, not just for His teaching, but for what He can do for them.

Translation: ...and He saw two ships by the lake,...

While He is teaching, Jesus sees that there are two ships nearby, anchored (they are not moving). He is very observant, and His senses appear to be open at all times for the intake of any change of circumstances.

Jesus has normal human knowledge of what He is seeing. What better men to call than some big, strong fishermen, who made a living using their bodies and muscles? Crowd control. This had become a necessity for the Lord.

Illustration: There have been famous people throughout our history who were loved and adored by their fans (for instance, the Beatles); but their fans were dangerous to them in large numbers.

As God, Jesus could have drawn millions of people to Him, held them at some reasonable distance, and teach in a way that the entire crowd could hear and understand Him. But Jesus speaks to these people as a man, from His human spirit, in accordance to the limitations of being a human being.

Translation: ...but the fishermen [were] away from them washing [their] nets.

The fishermen for these boats are away from the ships washing their nets. Let me suggest that this shows an attention to detail as well as a dedication to their craft of fishing.

Jesus takes note that there is no indication that these men have caught anything; but He sees the boat as being the perfect amphitheater for His teaching this crowd.

Luke 5:2 ...and He saw two ships by the lake, but the fishermen [were] away from them washing [their] nets.

Luke 5:1–2 It happened that while the crowd was listening to the teaching of the Word of God, they had kept moving in towards Jesus. At this time, He was standing on the shore of Gennesaret, when He saw two ships docked in the lake, but their fishermen were elsewhere washing their nets.

Jesus, as a man, was aware of the crowds—even friendly ones—could make it difficult for Him to teach. Jesus was also fully aware of His circumstances and was flexible and an original thinker. In other words, Jesus, His mind working all of the time, used what God provided Him with.

These first two verses speak to the environment in which the Lord has found Himself. The people who surround Him are not hostile to Him; they want to hear Him teach. However, given the circumstance, with the crowd fully surrounding Him and His back to the water of Galilee, Jesus looks around and makes an assessment of the situation.

——————————

Jesus is going to teach His disciples a scale of values here. It is important that you have a job and that you do your job; and it is important that you eat and your family eats; but there is something more important than that: the teaching of the Word of God.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Westcott-Hort Text (Greek)    And walking onto one of the ships, which [ship] was of Simon, He asked him from the ground to put out [to sea] a little. And sitting out from the ship He was teaching the crowds.

Revised Douay-Rheims         .

Douay-Rheims 1899 (Amer.) And going into one of the ships that was Simon's, he desired him to draw back a little from the land. And sitting, he taught the multitudes out of the ship.

V. Alexander’s Aramaic T.     .

James Murdock’s Syriac NT And one of them belonged to Simon Cephas: and Jesus entered and sat in it. And he told them to draw off a little from the shore, into the sea: and he seated himself, and taught the multitude from the ship.

Original Aramaic NT              And one of them belonged to Shimeon Kaypha, and Yeshua went up and sat down in it, and he said to take it out a little from the land into the water, and he sat down and he taught the crowds from the ship.

Plain English Aramaic Bible   .

Lamsa Peshitta (Syriac)         One of them belonged to Simon Peter; so Jesus went up and sat in it, and he asked to row it a little way from the shore to the water. And he sat and taught the people from the boat.

Significant differences: 

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

Bible in Basic English             And he got into one of the boats, the property of Simon, and made a request to him to go a little way out from the land. And being seated he gave the people teaching from the boat.

Bible in Worldwide English     Jesus got into one of the boats. It was Simons boat. Jesus asked him to put the boat out into the water a little way from the land. Then he sat down in the boat and taught the people.

Easy English                          One of the boats belonged to Simon. Jesus climbed into it. He asked Simon to push it away from the shore. Jesus sat in the boat and he started to teach the people.

5:3The boat was a good place for Jesus to sit. The people on the shore could see and hear him.

Easy-to-Read Version–2001  .

Easy-to-Read Version–2006  .

God’s Word™                         .

Good News Bible (TEV)         .

The Message                         He climbed into the boat that was Simon’s and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Sitting there, using the boat for a pulpit, he taught the crowd.

NIRV                                      He got into the boat that belonged to Simon. Jesus asked him to go out a little way from shore. Then he sat down in the boat and taught the people.

New Life Version                    .

New Simplified Bible              .

Thought-for-thought translations; dynamic translations; paraphrases:

College Press Bible Study     .

Contemporary English V.       .

The Living Bible                     Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push out a little into the water, so that he could sit in the boat and speak to the crowds from there.

New Berkeley Version           .

New Century Version             .