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February 6, 2026 |
| 153 Fish? | ||
When most people read that Jesus said, "Cast your net on the other side," and they catch 153 fish in the net, the number 153 is only a speed bump. They hit it and then move on. For many people, though, that number calls out, saying that there is more to it.
Early in my spiritual life, I was a speed bumper, but a time came when I heard that call. I searched online for an explanation, and found a few, but they all felt wrong.
Then I tried to understand it from the meaning of numbers. The number 153 doesn't have a meaning. Its factors are 3, 3, and 17. The number 3 certainly has a meaning, but 17 does not. That was fruitless, so I gave up. It was just one of those unanswered questions.
Very recently, I heard an explanation that feels right and makes sense. The answer is simple, but it takes us in an awkward direction.
Jesus has died, been resurrected, and his disciples have seen him alive. He hadn't given them specific instructions, so they had headed off to their families in the Galilee region.
Shimeon Kaypha said to them, "I am going to catch fish." They were saying to him, "We are also coming with you." And they went out and embarked the ship, and that night they caught nothing. 4. But when it was dawn, Yeshua stood on the side of the sea and the disciples did not know that it was Yeshua. 5 And Yeshua said to them, "Lads, do you have anything to eat?" They said to him, "No." 6 He said to them, "Throw your net on the right side of the ship, and you will find." And they cast and they could not haul in the net from the multitude of the fish it had caught.
10 And Yeshua said to them, "Bring some of those fish that you have caught just now." 11 And Shimeon Kaypha came up and dragged the net to the land as it was filled with 153 great fish, and with all this weight, the net was not ripped. (John 21:3-6,10-11)
We need to sort out one thing first. This translation uses the word "great" to describe the fish. Most translations use the word "large." The word that is used here does not mean large. It means noble, chief, or master. If John had intended to say large, he had a better word to use. Like the 153, this is also telling us something.
I've already mentioned that "great" (noble, chief, or master) is not how people would refer to fish. That doesn't happen elsewhere in the New Testament.
Why would they count the fish? That also doesn't happen elsewhere. Along with that come other questions. The text doesn't say someone counted them. This occurs in the half-light of dawn. How can they be so certain there were exactly 153? The Bible often says "at least," "about," or just "many," but in this case, no room is made for imprecision.
This event echoes an event at the beginning of Jesus' ministry. I'll talk about that more later, but this makes us wonder if there is a deeper message, and the 153 isn't meant literally.
I can't verify this, but the claim is made that the Greeks had decided there were 153 kinds of fish. This idea made its way to Israel, which had a lot of contact with Greeks, and became an idiom meaning "all of the kinds of fish." So a fisherman of that time might say, "I had a great day fishing. I caught all 153 of them."
That's a very believable story. Next we'll examine whether it makes sense in the context.
If we expand the idiom into John's text, we get:
… as [the net] was filled with every kind of fish.
Is this just an expression of surprise? No, it's probably more than that. John has recognized the unusualness of getting more than one kind. If you get a large number of fish, as they had, that would normally mean that you threw your net into a school of fish, and fish school by kind of fish. But here he sees a mixture of many kinds.
So, why did Jesus have this miracle include many kinds of fish? We've already answered one part of that. It would be impossible to claim it was luck. Luck would have produced a catch of only one kind of fish. The other part is that Jesus is reminding them of an earlier event.
And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Shimeon, "Take to the deep and cast your nets for a catch." 5 Shimeon answered and he said to him, "Rabbi, we worked all night, and we have not caught anything, but at your word, I will cast the net." 6 And when they had done this, they caught very many fish and the net was breaking. 7 And they beckoned to their partners who were in another ship to come help them and when they came they filled those two ships, so that they were almost sinking. 8 And when Shimeon Kaypha saw it, he fell before the feet of Yeshua and he said to him, "I beg you, my Lord, abandon me, for I am a sinner." 9 For awe had seized him and all of them who were with him, due to that catch of fish which they had caught, 10 Likewise also Yaqob and Yohannan, sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Shimeon, but Yeshua said to Shimeon, "Do not be afraid; from now on, you will be catching men for salvation." (Luke 5:4-10)
Jesus would have been pointing back to that event as a reminder that they still have that mission. Jesus' death and resurrection have not changed that. Also, the night of failure in each story, followed by massive success, tells them that he is the source. Their success has come from him and will continue that way as fishers of men.
When Jesus was calling them to become disciples, the net was beginning to break as they hauled in the fish. They recognized the sound of ropes under too much strain. In the 153 fish case, it is only said that the ropes did not break. I think there is a message in that as well. At their calling, they were fishing for Jews in a covenant that was breaking and about to become useless. Now, as fishers of men in the New Covenant, there will always be room for one more fish.
Additional support for this meaning of 153 comes from this verse:
Again the Kingdom of Heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea, and it collected from every kind. (Matthew 13:47)
Some of you might be saying, "My Bible says they caught 153 large fish. Are you saying the Bible isn't true?"
I've already talked about how different translations are rendering the word "large." The word in the original text doesn't necessarily mean that.
More importantly, the things that Jesus says include many literary techniques that are not literally true. Jesus uses hyperbole, where a person makes an exaggerated claim in order to emphasize a point. For example, we might say, "He does that all the time." We say that not because it is true but to emphasize how often he does it. Jesus does the same sometimes when he says "all," when it couldn't possibly have been literally all.
Jesus also makes use of idioms - expressions that have a meaning that is unrelated to the words. For example, we might say, "Keep it under your hat," which means "don't tell anyone." Here is an example of Jesus using an idiom.
And [Jesus] was speaking the word openly and Kaypha took him aside and began to rebuke him. (Mark 8:32)
Nothing seems odd about that verse because the translators have removed the idiom. What the verse literally says is:
And [Jesus] was speaking the word an eye in the open and …
Obviously Jesus didn't intend for these words to be taken literally.
Jesus also made heavy use of metaphors and allegories, where there is one meaning in the text and a second meaning deeper down. Again his words are not meant to be taken literally.
Summarizing whether this interpretation makes the Bible lie, we can say that the Bible does not contain any falsehoods. Every statement that Jesus and the apostles made was true. But he often used non-literal techniques to make the point.
The interpretation of 153 that we've seen - "every kind of fish" - sounds like it could be correct because it makes sense in so many ways.