Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them.
Parallel translations
- KJV And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
- BSB Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Jesus called them,
- NKJV Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them,
- NASB Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets; and He called them.
- NLT A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus next calls the brothers James and John, who are mending nets with their father Zebedee. It continues the formation of the apostolic circle.
Overview
Two more fishermen are summoned, again drawn from ordinary labor and family life. James and John will become prominent among the Twelve, part of Jesus' inner circle. The repeated calling underscores that the kingdom advances by Christ personally gathering His servants.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Mark 1:19–20Going on a little further from there, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets.
- Matt 10:2Now the names of the twelve apostles are these. The first, Simon, who is called Peter; Andrew, his brother; James the son of Zebedee; John, his brother;
- Mark 3:17James the son of Zebedee; John, the brother of James, and he called them Boanerges, which means, Sons of Thunder;
- Luke 5:10–11and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will be catching people alive.”
- John 21:2Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together.
- Acts 12:2He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword.
- Matt 26:37He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and severely troubled.
- Matt 20:20–21Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of him.
- Mark 5:37He allowed no one to follow him, except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.
- Matt 17:1After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves.
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 4:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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