They left their nets (image)

Hand colored stencil print on momigami by Sadao Watanabe (1970).

Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe.

For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.

 

Jesus Calls the Sons of Zebedee


“Fisherman spent their time finding fish to feed their family and sold what was left. It is not common for fishermen to be interested in or qualified for a study of the dharma but Jesus called them anyway.”

Drawing by Sawai Chinnawong who employs northern and central Thailand’s popular distinctive artistic style originally used to depict Buddhist moral principles and other religious themes; explanation by Paul DeNeui. From That Man Who Came to Save Us by Sawai Chinnawong and Paul H. DeNeui, William Carey Library, 2010.

For more images by Sawai Chinnawong in TIPs see here.

Following is a painting by Ketut Lasia (b. 1945):

Ketut Lasia is one of the last traditional Balinese painters in the Ubud style. As an adult, Lasia converted from Hinduism to Christianity, and he paints primarily biblical scenes. You can find artwork from Ketut Lasia in a variety of formats for sale at Fine Art America .

net

The Greek terms that are used for what is translated as “net” in English are translated in languages like Navajo (Dinė) where fishing with nets is not known as “instruments to catch (or: bring out) the fish.” (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)

In Rundi the term urusenga is used. Rosemary Guillebaud (in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 15ff. ) tells this story:

“[People living close to lakes] produced further problems for us over fishing terms when we reached the revision of the Gospels. Fishing is practically unknown in the mountain streams and rivers, so there is hardly any vocabulary for it up-country. In Mat. 4:18 we read that Jesus saw two brethren “casting a net into the sea.” The word we used for net (urusenga) is used all over Rundi for a fishing net, whatever it is like, but when I read this to some people who live by the lake they said it was the wrong word, as from the context this happened during the daytime, and urusenga-fishing is only done at night. It appears that the urusenga is something like a shrimping net, and is used on moonless nights, when the fishermen hold flares over the side of the boat and attract a certain variety of very small fish which swim about in shoals. The net they use for day-time fishing is something like a drag-net and is called urukwabu. On enquiry inland, I never discovered a single person who knew this word. It was obviously the right one, technically speaking, but we felt that the few thousand lake-dwellers could not be weighed against almost the entire population of the country, so we had to employ the up-country word, putting an explanatory note in the margin that by the lake this net is called urukwabu.”

Click or tap here to see a short video clip showing net-fishing in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

Jesus calls his first disciples (image)

Kim Ki-chang (pen name: Unbo) (1913-2001) had been deaf and partially mute since the age of 7. He painted a series of 30 paintings for the “Life of Christ” cycle in 1952 during the Korean War. Kim portrayed Jesus as a seonbi / 선비, or a Joseon Period (1392-1910) gentleman scholar, wearing a gat / 갓 (hat) and dopo / 도포 (robe).

For other images of Kim Ki-chang art works in TIPs, see here.

complete verse (Matthew 4:20)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 4:20:

  • Uma: “They left behind their nets, and beginning that day followed Yesus.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Immediately they left their nets and followed Isa.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And immediately they left off netting and went with him.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “They set-their nets -right-down and they went-with him.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When those two heard, they then left their fishing and truly did go with Jesus.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “They at once left their nets and went with Jesus.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 4:20

The adverb Immediately is in focus here as it is in verse 22. It represents a form of the adverb which is favored by Matthew, who uses it twelve times (see 8.3; 13.5; 14.22, 31; 20.34; 24.29; 25.16; 26.49, 74; 27.48), as compared to six times by Luke, three times by John, and none by Mark. It should be translated “At once,” “Right away,” or “Without delay.”

They left their nets, that is, “they left their nets right there,” “they abandoned their nets,” or “they quit working with their nets.”

The Greek expression translated followed is different from the verb used in verse 19 but has the same meaning in this context. As used in the New Testament, it frequently has the extended meaning of “follow as a disciple.” A good example of this shift may be observed in John 1.37-38, where the literal meaning of “follow” is intended. But in verses 40 and 43 of that same chapter the extended sense of “be a disciple” comes into focus.

Followed here may well be translated “they became his disciples (or, followers)” or “they … went with him,” as in Good News Translation.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .