Matthew Chapter 4 verse 21 Holy Bible
And going on from thence he saw two other brethren, James the `son' of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
read chapter 4 in ASV
And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, in the boat with their father, stitching up their nets; and he said, Come.
read chapter 4 in BBE
And going on thence he saw other two brothers, James the [son] of Zebedee and John his brother, in the ship with Zebedee their father, mending their trawl-nets, and he called them;
read chapter 4 in DARBY
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.
read chapter 4 in KJV
read chapter 4 in WBT
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.
read chapter 4 in WEB
And having advanced thence, he saw other two brothers, James of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, refitting their nets, and he called them,
read chapter 4 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 21. - Other two brethren (cf. ver. 18, note); in Matthew only. James the son of Zebedee. Why is the father of Peter and Andrew never mentioned, save incidentally, and by our Lord (Matthew 16:17; John 1:42; John 21:15-17)? Probably Zebedee and his wife Salome became, unlike Peter's parents, well-known believers. It may be that Peter was the eldest of the Twelve, and that his father was already dead or, though perhaps believing on Jesus, was too old to take any special part in the work. Luke (Luke 5:10) adds, "Who were partners with Simon" - an item of information perhaps obtained from the same source as his first and second chapters. In a ship; in the boot (Revised Version), and so always in the Gospels. The word (πλοῖον) may be used of any sized vessel (equivalent to "large ship ' in Acts 27.), but here, as managed by so few men, it is equivalent to "boat." Other words translated "boat" in the New Testament are πλοιάριον, "little boat" (Mark once, John four times), and σκάφη, "small ship's boat" (Acts 27:16, 30, 32). Josephus says ('Bell. Jud.,' 2:21.8) that when he gathered all the boats on the lake to attack Tiberius, there were "not more than four sailors in each;" by which he probably means, not the number of men wherewith he was able to equip them, but the number he found already managing them. With Zebedee their father. In Matthew only. Mending their nets. The first pair of brothers were in the excitement of catching; the second had perhaps caught, and were mending their nets with a view to a fresh attempt; in neither case was there a moment's delay. And he called them. This time his words are not given.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(21) Mending their nets.--On the assumption that the facts in St. Luke preceded what we read here, the "mending" might seem the natural consequence of the "breaking" there described, and be noted as an undesigned coincidence. It must be remembered, however, (1) that the "mending" as well as "washing" flowed naturally even on a night of unsuccessful fishing, and (2) that the Greek of St. Luke does not say that the nets actually broke, but that they were on the point of breaking, and were beginning to do so.
