Section 21:1–14

Jesus appeared to his disciples in Galilee

This chapter is a second ending to the Gospel of John. It gives some information about another time that Jesus appeared to his disciples after he rose from the dead. This time Jesus came to seven of his followers while they were fishing on the lake in Galilee. He did a miracle of providing many fish for them to catch, and then he gave them breakfast.

Here are other possible section headings:

Jesus went to seven of his disciples beside Lake Galilee
-or-
Seven disciples saw a miracle when they caught many fish
-or-
Jesus did a miracle to give some of his followers many fish

Paragraph 21:1–3

After Jesus’ resurrection, seven of Jesus’ followers met by the Sea of Tiberias (also called the Sea of Galilee). They decided to go fishing together, but they caught nothing.

21:1a–b

This is a summary statement introducing the next story. See the General Comment on ways to combine 21:1a and b.

21:1a

Later, by the Sea of Tiberias, Jesus again revealed Himself to the disciples: This clause introduces the final events in the gospel and indicates where they happened.

Later: This phrase refers to a time after Jesus appeared to Thomas and the other disciples in Jerusalem, as described in 20:19–29. It may have been a week or two later. We do not know exactly how much later it was. Use a general expression that can refer to a few days or a couple of weeks. For example:

Some time later (Revised English Bible)
-or-
Days later

by the Sea of Tiberias: The Sea of Tiberias was the Roman name for the lake that the Jews called Sea of Galilee or Lake Galilee. It was a freshwater (not salty) lake. See the note and how you translated this name in 6:1, where both terms are used. If this lake is known as Lake Galilee in your community, you may want to use that term here. For example:

at Lake Galilee (New Century Version)
-or-
Lake Tiberias (Good News Translation)

If you do that, you will probably want to include a footnote. For example:

The Greek text uses the name “Sea of Tiberias” to refer to the same lake.

Jesus again revealed Himself to the disciples: This clause indicates that Jesus came to some of his followers and allowed them to see him. The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as revealed Himself also appears in 7:4. See how you translated the word there. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

Jesus appeared once more to his disciples (Good News Translation)
-or-
Jesus again caused/allowed his followers to see him

again: Jesus showed himself to the disciples twice previously, both times in the room in Jerusalem (20:19–29). This time, he showed himself to the disciples while they were by the sea or lake called Tiberias. This was the first time that Jesus met the disciples there after his resurrection. To avoid the wrong meaning that Jesus appeared there before, you can mention the Sea of Tiberias separately. For example:

Jesus showed himself to his followers again—this time at Lake Galilee. (New Century Version)
-or-
Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples. It was by the Sea of Tiberias…. (New Jerusalem Bible)

the disciples: This phrase refers to seven of Jesus’ 12 closest disciples. The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as disciples means “learners” who are in a special relationship with a teacher. The learners committed themselves to their teacher in order to learn from him and follow his teaching and example. Disciples often lived with their teacher and followed him wherever he went. See how you translated this word in 20:2. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

his disciples (New International Version)
-or-
his followers (New Century Version)

21:1b

He made Himself known in this way: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as He made Himself known in this way uses the same verb as in 21:1a. Here is another way to translate this clause:

He appeared in this way

This clause introduces the next event in the story. In some languages it may be more natural to use a different verb rather than repeating the verb from 21:1. For example:

it happened like this: (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
Now this is how he did so. (NET Bible)

General Comment on 21:1

In some languages it may be natural to combine 21:1a–b. For example:

Jesus later appeared to his disciples along the shore of Lake Tiberias. (Contemporary English Version)

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