matthew-4:18-19,-luke-5:1-4-niv

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Matthew 4:18-20

The Hebrews referred to lakes as "seas." The Sea of Galilee got its name from its district. [Note: See the map "Palestine in the Time of Jesus" at the end of these notes to locate the places mentioned in this stage of Jesus’ ministry.] Its other name, the Sea of "Gennesaret," came from the plain to the northwest of the lake (Luke 5:1) and from a town on that plain: Gennesaret. The name "Gennesaret" connects to the Hebrew work kinnor, meaning "harp." In the Old Testament this body of water was... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Matthew 4:18-22

3. The call of four disciples 4:18-22 (cf. Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11)The calling of these four men shows Jesus’ authority over people. The response of these disciples was appropriate in view of their summons by the King. They obeyed "immediately" (Matthew 4:20; Matthew 4:22). From here on in the Gospel of Matthew we will not read stories about Jesus alone; He is always with His disciples, until they desert Him in the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:56). read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 4:1-25

The Temptation1-11. The temptation (Mark 1:12; Luke 4:1). The narrative, which can only have come from our Lord’s own lips, describes an actual historical fact, the great temptation which He underwent at the very beginning of His ministry. He was tempted at other times (Luke 4:13), perhaps at all times (Hebrews 2:18), during His earthly life, but the two great seasons of trial were now, and immediately before the Passion: Luke 22:42; Matthew 26:39. Our Lord records His experience in symbolical... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 4:18

(18) And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee.—In no part of the Gospel history is it more necessary to remember St. John’s record as we read that of the Three, than in this call of the disciples. Here, everything seems sudden and abrupt. There we learn that those who were now called had some months before accepted Him as the Christ (John 1:35-43), and had, some or all of them, been with Him during His visit to Jerusalem. Simon had already received the surname of Cephas or Peter or the Rock.... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 4:19

(19) Follow me.—The command came, as we have seen, to those who were not unprepared. Short as it was, it was in some sense the first parable in our Lord’s teaching, the germ of an actual parable (Matthew 13:47). It suggested a whole circle of thoughts. The sea is the troubled and evil world (Isaiah 57:20), and the souls of men are the fish that have to be caught and taken from it, and the net is the Church of Christ. The figure had been used before (Jeremiah 16:16), but then it had presented... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Matthew 4:1-25

The Temptation of Jesus Matthew 4:0 Whether the devil appeared objectively to Christ or not, it was in the realm of spirit that the temptation took place. Mark even says that Jesus was led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. This is at first a hard saying, but probably it only means that God wished His Son to meet the tempter at once and have it out once for all. Not that the devil would not try again, but the line for future conflict would be clearly defined. I. The... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Matthew 4:12-25

Chapter 6Beginning of His Galilean Ministry - Matthew 4:12-25.DID our Lord’s ministry begin in Galilee? If so, why did He not Himself set the example of "beginning at Jerusalem?" As a matter of fact we learn from the fourth Gospel that He did begin at Jerusalem; and that it was only after He was rejected there that He changed the scene of His labours to the North. Why then do the three Evangelists not mention this earlier ministry in the South? The answer to this question seems suggested by the... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Matthew 4:1-25

4. The Testing of the King and His Testimony. 1. The Testing by the Devil. (Matthew 4:1-11 .) 2. His Testimony and His Disciples. (Matthew 4:12-22 .) 3. The Powers of the Kingdom. (Matthew 4:23-25 .) CHAPTER 4 The first part of this chapter gives us the history of the temptation of the King. This is a most important topic, many-sided in its applications; large volumes have been written on it without exhausting it. We will therefore have to confine ourselves to the bringing out of some of... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Matthew 4:18

4:18 {3} And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.(3) Christ, thinking that he would eventually depart from us, even at the beginning of his preaching gets himself disciples of a heavenly sort, poor and unlearned, and therefore such as might be left as honest witnesses of the truth of those things which they heard and saw. read more

L.M. Grant

L. M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 4:1-25

There could be no doubt therefore that He would fulfil this virtual pledge to bear their sins on Calvary. Notice too that the Father approves Him in this unqualified way before His being tested by Satan in the wilderness (Ch.4). Certainly God could not speak in this way to anyone else before the time of his testing; but could do so with absolute fullness of approval to His beloved Son. Therefore, He could not fail. This public anointing by the Spirit would correspond to the anointing of David... read more