Mat 4:19 "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
Mat 4:19 "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
Alternative: Come after me and I will make you into sailors of humanity
In English, this phrase initially appears as something of a pun, "fishers of men" rather than "fishermen," but, despite all the wordplay that we find in the original Greek that is not translated into English, in this case, the original Greek it has none of these connotations. The Greek term for "fisher" used (halieus) doesn't refer to fish at all. It is a more general term for one who works at sea. In does mean fishers but only because they are the most common type of people who work at sea.
In the KJV, Christ seems to be comparing people to fish and the apostle's job is catching them. In the Greek, Christ seems to be comparing humanity to an ocean or sea on which the apostles will work.
This statement comes right after Christ's declaration that the reign of the univeral has come near. Taken in that context, this statement about being sailors among humanity announces a change in the word. Today, we are all sailors upon the sea of humanity. In Christ's time, people could work outside of society as farmers or sheep herders simply supporting themselves off the land. Rules for human interactions were based on force and coercion. Christ is heralding a time when we would all find our purpose working together, creating values from our work with each other. That is, making our living as sailors on the sea of humanity instead of sailors upon the natural seas.
One of Christ's analogies for the kingdom heaven is a net put down into the sea taking in both good fish and bad (discussed here). The central issue of the parable wasn't catching people but separating the good from the bad. The rules of the universe catch everyone, but the larger process separates the good from the bad. After Christ's resurrection, one of his appearances was occasioned by a miracle of filling the apostle's nets.
"Follow" is from deute (deute), which means "come here" and "come hither." It is an imperative form, indicating a command.
Untranslated is from opisô (opiso), which means "back," "behind," and "hearafter."
"Make" is from poieô ( poieo), which means "to make," "to produce," "to create," "to bring into existence," "to bring about," "to cause," "to render," "to consider," "to prepare," "to make ready," and "to do."
"Fisher" is from halieus ( halieus), which means "fisher," "seaman," and "one who has to do with the sea."
"Men" is from anthrôpos (anthropos), which "man," and, in plural, "mankind." It also means "humanity" and that which is human and opposed to that which is animal or inanimate.
