21:3a
Simon Peter told them, “I am going fishing.”: Peter told the other disciples that he was leaving to catch fish from his boat. This was the job of at least several of them before they began to follow Jesus. See Mark 1:16–20.
Simon Peter told them: The pronoun them here refers to the other six disciples who were present. Refer back to the people who were introduced in 21:2 in a way that is natural in your language. For example:
Simon Peter said to the others (Good News Translation)
-or-
Simon Peter said to the other men/disciples
In some languages it may be natural to leave implied the people to whom Simon spoke. For example:
Simon Peter said (New Century Version)
I am going fishing: This clause indicates that Peter would soon leave to go out onto the lake to catch fish with a net. The verb tense refers to something he was planning to do very soon. Use the verb tense that is suitable in your language. For example:
I am going out to fish. (New Century Version)
-or-
I am going ⌊to the lake/sea⌋ to fish.
-or-
I will now go fishing.
fishing: Peter and the other disciples planned to throw a net into the water from their boat. They did that to trap fish in the net. Refer to this method of catching fish in a way that is natural in your language. For example:
trap/catch fish in the net
21:3b
We will go with you: This clause indicates that the other six disciples wanted to go with Peter and help him fish. The Greek text emphasizes the pronoun We. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
We will come with you. (Good News Translation)
-or-
We (excl.) will come too.
-or-
Let us (incl.) all go together.
they said: This expression introduces the reply of the other six disciples to Peter and in Greek occurs before their reply.
21:3c
So they went out and got into the boat: There are at least two ways to interpret this clause:
(1) It indicates that the disciples left the place where they were and went toward the lake and their boat. For example, see the Berean Standard Bible.
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, New Century Version, English Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, NET Bible)
(2) It indicates that the disciples went out in their boats onto the lake. For example:
so they went out in a boat (Good News Translation)
(Good News Translation, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004), Contemporary English Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) with most English translations and the natural reading of the Greek text.
So they went out: Following the interpretation in the above note, this expression indicates that the disciples left the place where they were. They had perhaps been in someone’s home by the lake, or in a hut there. Now they began to go to the lake to fish. Use the expression that is natural in your language for beginning a short journey. For example:
They set out
-or-
They started to go
and got into the boat: The disciples got into their fishing boat. Use the expression that is natural in your language for entering such a boat.
the boat: This phrase refers to a boat large enough to hold seven disciples and their fishing equipment.
21:3d
but caught nothing that night: This clause indicates that although the disciples fished all night, they did not catch any fish. The information that they began fishing and fished all night is implied but not explicitly stated. In some languages it may be natural to make it explicit. For example:
They fished that night but caught nothing. (New Century Version)
Here are other ways to translate this clause:
but they caught nothing all night (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
and during the night caught nothing at all (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
⌊They tried to catch fish in their net⌋ , but they caught no ⌊fish⌋ that night
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