Food and drink
Fish
Hebrew dag · Greek ichthys, opsarion · mostly from the Sea of Galilee
The Israelites were not a seafaring people, and most of their fish came from the Jordan and the Sea of Galilee, where a few dozen kinds live — among them tilapia, carp, barbels, sardines and catfish. The Law allowed only fish with fins and scales (Leviticus 11:9), so the scaleless catfish was not eaten. Sea fish came from the coast: men of Tyre sold them in Jerusalem, where one of the city gates was called the Fish Gate (Nehemiah 3:3).
In Jesus’ time fishing on the Sea of Galilee was a real industry, and fish were salted and dried to keep. Fishermen worked mostly at night with a large dragnet let down from a boat and pulled to shore, where the catch was sorted (Matthew 13:47–48); others used a cast net or a hook and line. In 1986 the remains of a fishing boat of about that time, some 8 meters long, were found in the mud of the lake near Ginosar.
Key verses
Of all the creatures that live in the water, whether in the seas or in the streams, you may eat anything with fins and scales.Additionally, men of Tyre who lived there were importing fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah in Jerusalem.As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.When Jesus had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” “Master,” Simon replied, “we have worked hard all night without catching anything. But because You say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to tear.Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the men pulled it ashore. Then they sat down and sorted the good fish into containers, but threw the bad away.When they landed, they saw a charcoal fire there with fish on it, and some bread.Sources
Adapted and shortened from the Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0
Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers · CC BY-SA 4.0 — Animals: Fish; Fishermen; Food and Food Preparation: Animal Products
Adapted from Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary: articles chosen, shortened and retold in our own words (history, nature and daily life only) and, in languages other than English, machine-translated. The original work by Tyndale House Publishers is available for free at tyndaleopenresources.com.
