John 21:11

So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many, the net was not torn.

BSB

Parallel translations

4 additional translations

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KJV

Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.

ASV

Simon Peter therefore went up, and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, the net was not rent.

YLT

Simon Peter went up, and drew the net up on the land, full of great fishes, an hundred fifty and three, and though they were so many, the net was not rent.

DBT

Simon Peter went up and drew the net to the land full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty-three; and though there were so many, the net was not rent.

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Commentary voices

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Voices6

On this verse

To show that it was no vision, He bade them take of the fish they had caught. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. Another miracle follows; viz. that the net was not broken: Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.

Theophylact of Ohrid· Catena Aurea by Aquinas, 1107patristic

Related commentary

To Peter was the holy Church committed; to him is it specially said, Feed My sheep. That then which is afterwards declared by word, is now signified by act. He it is who draws the fishes to the firm shore, because he it was who pointed out the stability of the eternal country to the faithful. This he did by word of mouth, by epistles; this he does daily by signs and miracles. After saying that the net was full of great fishes, the number follows: Full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three. (Hom. xxiv.)

Gregory the Dialogist· Catena Aurea by Aquinas, 604patristic

Simon Peter went up,.... Either to the sea, that being higher than the land, or to the ship which lay by the shore: he went aboard it, and drew the net to land full of great fishes; not alone, but others of the disciples with him; though he only is mentioned, being the leading person in this affair; an emblem of the whole number of God's elect being brought safe to shore, to Christ, and to heaven, through various tribulations and afflictions in the world, fitly signified by the waves of the sea.

John Gill· Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)reformed

An hundred and fifty and three - The number is mentioned because it seems to have been a very unusual draught, and it was particularly gratifying and striking to them after they had spent the whole night and had caught nothing. This convinced them that it was no other than the same Saviour who had so often worked wonders before them that was now with them.

Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)evangelical

But it is not through the agency of a Christian ministry that all true disciples are gathered. Jesus Himself, by unseen methods, gathers some, who afterwards are recognized by the constituted fishers of men, and mingle with the fruit of their labors.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871reformed

It is said of the slothful man that he roasteth not that which he took in hunting; he cannot find in his heart to dress what he has been at the pains to take, Prov. xii. But Christ would hereby teach us to use what we have. [2.] He would have them taste the gifts of his miraculous bounty, that they might be witnesses both of his power and of his goodness.

Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan

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Cross-references

2 linked verses

The verses this one reaches2

Luke 5:6–8
When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to tear.
Acts 2:41
Those who embraced his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to the believers that day.

Cross-references

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Contested claims1

Held at full strength, with the debate attached

◈The 153 fishcontested · tier C

The 153 fish of John 21:11 have drawn figurate and gematria readings for millennia. Augustine observed that 153 is the triangular number of 17 (1+2+…+17), which is true arithmetic and an ancient reading. Del Washburn's Theomatics claims that "fish" phrases cluster near 153 — a claim of a very different standing, reproduced in secular text once the same freedoms are allowed.

The critique, at full strength

Two claims of very different standing sit under one number. Augustine's observation that 153 is the triangular number of 17 (Tractates on John 122) is true arithmetic and an ancient reading, and may be presented as a checkable curiosity. The Theomatic inference is not: Del Washburn's method (Theomatics, 1977; Theomatics II, 1994) analyses any word, phrase or clause the researcher selects, with or without articles and conjunctions, and counts hits within a tolerance window of the target multiple - two freedoms which together make hit rates of the observed size unremarkable. Tim Hayes published the standard detailed analysis of the degrees of freedom, and Russell Glasser reproduced theomatic-style clustering in a secular text, which is the control-text kill shot. Never peer-reviewed; no academic standing.

Full registry →

The quotation web

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Original language

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Around this verse

Word doors

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

Featured studies

Featured studyThe Seven Signs — John's Book of SignsThis study walks through this verse.

About this book

The Word Made Flesh — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

John — The Gospel of sevens and signs. Seven signs, seven 'I AM' sayings, a prologue and an epilogue — written 'that ye might believe' (20:31).

Canon: New Testament
Author: John the Apostle (2nd-century patristic attribution + internal claims)
Date: c. AD 85–95

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Acts 2:41
Those who embraced his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to the believers that day.
leads to
- Acts 4:4
  But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.
- Acts 2:47
  praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
- Acts 16:31–34
  They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.”
- John 14:12
  Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I am doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
- Acts 2:37
  When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

The whole web at once: see the Arc.

Where the connections lead

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Continue: John 21 →