Matthew 4:19

He said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people.” ¹ 

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."

And He *said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Jesus called out to them, "Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!"

Jesus said to them, "Come with me. I'll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I'll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass."

And he said to them, Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.

And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people."

Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."

He said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people.” ¹ 

¹ tn The Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, thus “people.”

sn The kind of fishing envisioned was net – not line – fishing (cf. v. 18; cf. also BDAG 55 s.v. ἀμφιβάλλω, ἀμφίβληστρον) which involved a circular net that had heavy weights around its perimeter. The occupation of fisherman was labor-intensive. The imagery of using a lure and a line (and waiting for the fish to strike) is thus foreign to this text. Rather, the imagery of a fisherman involved much strain, long hours, and often little results. Jesus’ point may have been one or more of the following: the strenuousness of evangelism, the work ethic that it required, persistence and dedication to the task (often in spite of minimal results), the infinite value of the new “catch” (viz., people), and perhaps an eschatological theme of snatching people from judgment (cf. W. L. Lane, Mark [NICNT], 67). If this last motif is in view, then catching people is the opposite of catching fish: The fish would be caught, killed, cooked, and eaten; people would be caught so as to remove them from eternal destruction and to give them new life.