5:5a

Simon was a skilled and experienced fisherman. He did not believe that he and the others with him in the boat would catch any fish if they let down the nets at this time. His words to Jesus imply this.

Master: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Master is a word that shows respect. People used this word to address a person who had high position or status. It showed that Simon respected Jesus.

The word Master is similar in meaning to “Lord” at 5:8c. But when someone used the word “Lord,” as Simon did later in 5:8c, he was showing greater respect. Your language may have more than one word to show respect. Use the word that shows lesser respect here. Use the word that shows greater respect in 5:8c.

(See the note on “Lord” at 5:8c, where Simon changed the word that he used to address Jesus.)

Simon replied: Jesus had given Simon a command. Usually a person responds to a command by doing the action. However, Simon responded by protesting to Jesus. Use the most natural way in your language to introduce this protest. For example:

Simon responded
-or-
Simon protested

we have worked hard: The phrase we have worked hard refers to working hard at fishing. Simon and the other fishermen had fished throughout the night. In your language, you may need to say that “fishing” was the work that they had done. For example:

we worked hard…trying to catch fish (New Century Version)
-or-
we have labored at our fishing
-or-
we fished as well/hard as we could

all night: The best time to fish in this lake was at night. This conversation was taking place during the day. Simon and his companions had been fishing during the previous night.

If necessary, use a footnote to provide background information. For example, you could say:

Fishermen on Lake Galilee knew from experience that they would catch more fish at night than during the daytime.

5:5b

without catching anything: The fishermen did not catch anything during the previous night. Therefore they believed that it would be useless to fish during the day. If your readers do not understand this, you may need to make this explicit. For example:

We have caught nothing during the night, ⌊so it is certainly not likely that we will catch anything now⌋.

5:5c

But: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But here indicates a contrast with what was implied in 5:5b. Simon did not believe that putting his net into the water one more time would help him to catch anything. But he was willing to try it because Jesus had asked him.

Use a conjunction in your language that naturally introduces a contrast. For example:

nevertheless (King James Version)
-or-
However

because You say so: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as because You say so is literally “at Your word” (as in the Revised Standard Version).

Some other ways to say this are:

I will do as You say (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
because you say/command it

I will let down the nets: Simon Peter was in charge of the boat. But he did not let down the nets all by himself. So it may be necessary to translate this as:

I will cause the nets to be let down.
-or-
I will have the men let down the nets
-or-
We(excl) will throw/cast the nets into the water

The text implies here that Simon Peter would first move the boat into deeper water. If your readers think that Simon Peter would let down the nets where he was, you may make this explicit. For example:

because you say so, I will ⌊move the boat out into deeper water⌋ and let down the nets

General Comment on 5:5c

In some languages, it may be more natural to change the order of the two clauses in 5:5c. For example:

But I will let down the nets because you say so.

In other languages, it may be necessary to use a different conjunction. For example:

You said to lower the nets, so I will.

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