Matius 4:20-22

4:20 They ¹  left their nets immediately and followed him. ²  4:21 Going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in a boat ³  with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. Then ⁴  he called them. 4:22 They ⁵  immediately left the boat and their father and followed him.

Matius 9:9

The Call of Matthew; Eating with Sinners

9:9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. ⁶  “Follow me,” he said to him. And he got up and followed him.

Ulangan 33:9

33:9 He said to his father and mother, “I have not seen him,” ⁷ 

and he did not acknowledge his own brothers

or know his own children,

for they kept your word,

and guarded your covenant.

Markus 1:17-20

1:17 Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people.” ⁸  1:18 They left their nets immediately and followed him. ⁹  1:19 Going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother in their ¹⁰  boat mending nets. 1:20 Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Markus 2:14

2:14 As he went along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax booth. ¹¹  “Follow me,” he said to him. And he got up and followed him.

Markus 10:28

10:28 Peter began to speak to him, “Look, ¹²  we have left everything to follow you!” ¹³ 

Lukas 5:11

5:11 So ¹⁴  when they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed ¹⁵  him.

Lukas 5:27-28

The Call of Levi; Eating with Sinners

5:27 After ¹⁶  this, Jesus ¹⁷  went out and saw a tax collector ¹⁸  named Levi ¹⁹  sitting at the tax booth. ²⁰  “Follow me,” ²¹  he said to him. 5:28 And he got up and followed him, leaving everything ²²  behind. ²³ 

Lukas 14:33

14:33 In the same way therefore not one of you can be my disciple if he does not renounce all his own possessions. ²⁴ 

Lukas 18:28

18:28 And Peter said, “Look, we have left everything we own ²⁵  to follow you!” ²⁶ 

Filipi 3:8

3:8 More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things – indeed, I regard them as dung! ²⁷  – that I may gain Christ,

[4:20]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[4:20]  ² sn The expression followed him pictures discipleship, which means that to learn from Jesus is to follow him as the guiding priority of one’s life.

[4:21]  ³ tn Or “their boat.” The phrase ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ (en tw ploiw) can either refer to a generic boat, some boat (as it seems to do here); or it can refer to “their” boat, implying possession. Mark assumes a certain preunderstanding on the part of his readers about the first four disciples and hence the translation “their boat” is justified (cf. also v. 20 in which the “hired men” indicates that Zebedee’s family owned the boats), while Matthew does not.

[4:21]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[4:22]  ⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[9:9]  ⁶ tn While “tax office” is sometimes given as a translation for τελώνιον (telwnion, so L&N 57.183), this could give the modern reader a false impression of an indoor office with all its associated furnishings.

[9:9]  sn The tax booth was a booth located on the edge of a city or town to collect taxes for trade. There was a tax booth in Capernaum, which was on the trade route from Damascus to Galilee and the Mediterranean. The “taxes” were collected on produce and goods brought into the area for sale, and were a sort of “sales tax” paid by the seller but obviously passed on to the purchaser in the form of increased prices (L&N 57.183). It was here that Jesus met Matthew (also named Levi [see Mark 2:14, Luke 5:27]) who was ultimately employed by the Romans, though perhaps more directly responsible to Herod Antipas. It was his job to collect taxes for Rome and he was thus despised by Jews who undoubtedly regarded him as a traitor.

[33:9]  ⁷ sn This statement no doubt alludes to the Levites’ destruction of their own fellow tribesmen following the golden calf incident (Exod 32:25-29).

[1:17]  ⁸ tn The Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, thus “people.”

[1:17]  sn The kind of fishing envisioned was net – not line – fishing (cf. v. 16; 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.

[1:18]  ⁹ sn The expression followed him pictures discipleship, which means that to learn from Jesus is to follow him as the guiding priority of one’s life.

[1:19]  ¹⁰ tn Or “a boat.” The phrase ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ (en tw ploiw) can either refer to a generic boat, some boat (as it seems to do in Matt 4:21); or it can refer to “their” boat, implying possession. Mark assumes a certain preunderstanding on the part of his readers about the first four disciples and hence the translation “their boat” is justified (cf. also v. 20 in which the “hired men” indicates that Zebedee’s family owned the boats).

[2:14]  ¹¹ tn While “tax office” is sometimes given as a translation for τελώνιον (telwnion, so L&N 57.183), this could give the modern reader a false impression of an indoor office with all its associated furnishings.

[2:14]  sn The tax booth was a booth located on the edge of a city or town to collect taxes for trade. There was a tax booth in Capernaum, which was on the trade route from Damascus to Galilee and the Mediterranean. The “taxes” were collected on produce and goods brought into the area for sale, and were a sort of “sales tax” paid by the seller but obviously passed on to the purchaser in the form of increased prices (L&N 57.183). It was here that Jesus met Levi (also named Matthew [see Matt 9:9]) who was ultimately employed by the Romans, though perhaps more directly responsible to Herod Antipas. It was his job to collect taxes for Rome and he was thus despised by Jews who undoubtedly regarded him as a traitor.

[10:28]  ¹² sn Peter wants reassurance that the disciples’ response and sacrifice has been noticed.

[10:28]  ¹³ tn Grk “We have left everything and followed you.” Koine Greek often used paratactic structure when hypotactic was implied.

[5:11]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of Jesus’ pronouncement.

[5:11]  ¹⁵ sn The expression left everything and followed him pictures discipleship, which means that to learn from Jesus is to follow him as the guiding priority of one’s life.

[5:27]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “And after.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[5:27]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:27]  ¹⁸ sn See the note on tax collectors in 3:12.

[5:27]  ¹⁹ sn It is possible that Levi is a second name for Matthew, because people often used alternative names in 1st century Jewish culture.

[5:27]  ²⁰ tn While “tax office” is sometimes given as a translation for τελώνιον (telwnion; so L&N 57.183), this could give the modern reader a false impression of an indoor office with all its associated furnishings.

[5:27]  sn The tax booth was a booth located on the edge of a city or town to collect taxes for trade. There was a tax booth in Capernaum, which was on the trade route from Damascus to Galilee and the Mediterranean. The “taxes” were collected on produce and goods brought into the area for sale, and were a sort of “sales tax” paid by the seller but obviously passed on to the purchaser in the form of increased prices (L&N 57.183). It was here that Jesus met Levi (also named Matthew [see Matt 9:9]) who was ultimately employed by the Romans, though perhaps more directly responsible to Herod Antipas. It was his job to collect taxes for Rome and he was thus despised by Jews who undoubtedly regarded him as a traitor.

[5:27]  ²¹ sn Follow me. For similar calls on the part of Jesus see Luke 5:10-11; 9:23, 59; 18:22.

[5:28]  ²² sn On the phrase leaving everything see Luke 5:10-11; 14:33.

[5:28]  ²³ tn The participial phrase “leaving everything behind” occurs at the beginning of the sentence, but has been transposed to the end in the translation for logical reasons, since it serves to summarize Levi’s actions.

[14:33]  ²⁴ tn Grk “Likewise therefore every one of you who does not renounce all his own possessions cannot be my disciple.” The complex double negation is potentially confusing to the modern reader and has been simplified in the translation. See L&N 57.70.

[14:33]  sn The application of the saying is this: Discipleship requires that God be in first place. The reference to renunciation of all his own possessions refers to all earthly attachments that have first place.

[18:28]  ²⁵ tn Or “left our homes,” “left our possessions”; Grk “left our own things.” The word ἴδιος (idios) can refer to one’s home (including the people and possessions in it) or to one’s property or possessions. Both options are mentioned in BDAG 467 s.v. 4.b. See also I. H. Marshall, Luke (NIGTC), 688; D. L. Bock, Luke (BECNT), 2:1488.

[18:28]  ²⁶ tn Grk “We have left everything we own and followed you.” Koine Greek often used paratactic structure when hypotactic was implied.

[3:8]  ²⁷ tn The word here translated “dung” was often used in Greek as a vulgar term for fecal matter. As such it would most likely have had a certain shock value for the readers. This may well be Paul’s meaning here, especially since the context is about what the flesh produces.