Reference: Fish, Fisher
American
The Hebrews have very few names of particular species of fish. Moses says in general, that all sorts of river, lake, or sea fish, which have scales and fins, may be eaten; all others shall be to the Hebrews an abomination, Le 11:9-12; De 14:9-10. The Nile had an early celebrity, which it still retains, for the abundance and excellence of its fish, Ex 7:18-21; Nu 11:5. The Sea of Tiberias also still abounds in fish, Lu 5:5; Joh 21:6-11. They were a common article of food among the Jews, Mt 7:10, and were obtained from the Mediterranean, Ne 13:16, and from the Jordan. They were caught with hooks, Am 4:2, spears, Job 41:7, and nets, Isa 19:8-10. The "great fish," Jon 1:17, which swallowed Jonah, may have been of the shark genus, as this animal is common in the Mediterranean. The original word, both in Hebrew and Greek, Mt 12:40, means a fish, and not specifically a "whale." See WHALE. Fishermen are often spoken of in the Bible, and a large proportion of the twelve apostles of our Lord were of that occupation. Christ made them "fishers of men," Mt 4:18-22.
The early Christians, in times of persecution, used to engrave the form of a fish on their medals, seals, and tombs, as a tacit confession of their faith; as the five letters of the Greek word for fish are the initial letters of five words, signifying "Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior." This symbol has thus become the subject of a superstitious regard.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the fish in the Nile will come to destruction, and the river will send up a bad smell, and the Egyptians will not be able, for disgust, to make use of the water of the Nile for drinking. And the Lord said, Say to Aaron, Let the rod in your hand be stretched out over the waters of Egypt, and over the rivers and the streams and the pools, and over every stretch of water, so that they may be turned to blood; and there will be blood through all the land of Egypt, in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone. read more. And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had said; and when his rod had been lifted up and stretched out over the waters of the Nile before the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants, all the water in the Nile was turned to blood; And the fish in the Nile came to destruction, and a bad smell went up from the river, and the Egyptians were not able to make use of the water of the Nile for drinking; and there was blood through all the land of Egypt.
These you may have for food of all things living in the water: anything living in the water, in the seas or rivers, which has special parts for swimming and skin formed of thin plates, may be used for food. All other things living and moving in the water, in the sea or in the rivers, are a disgusting thing to you; read more. They may not be used for food, and their dead bodies are disgusting to you. Anything in the water which has no special parts for swimming and no thin plates on its skin is disgusting to you.
Sweet is the memory of the fish we had in Egypt for nothing, and the fruit and green plants of every sort, sharp and pleasing to the taste:
And of the things living in the waters, you may take all those who have wings for swimming with and skins formed of thin plates. But any which have no skin-plates or wings for swimming, you may not take; they are unclean for you.
And there were men of Tyre there, who came with fish and all sorts of goods, trading with the children of Judah and in Jerusalem on the Sabbath.
The fishermen will be sad, and all those who put fishing-lines into the Nile will be full of grief, and those whose nets are stretched out on the waters will have sorrow in their hearts. And all the workers in linen thread, and those who make cotton cloth, will be put to shame. read more. And the makers of twisted thread will be crushed, and those who ... will be sad in heart.
The Lord God has taken an oath by his holy name, that the days are coming when they will take you away with hooks, and the rest of you with fish-hooks.
And the Lord made ready a great fish to take Jonah into its mouth; and Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.
And when he was walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, whose other name was Peter, and Andrew, his brother, who were putting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And he said to them, Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men. read more. And straight away they let go the nets and went after him. 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. And they went straight from the boat and their father and came after him.
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the stomach of the great fish, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
And Simon, answering, said, Master, we were working all night and we took nothing: but at your word I will let down the nets.
And he said to them, Let down the net on the right side of the boat and you will get some. So they put it in the water and now they were not able to get it up again because of the great number of fish. So the disciple who was dear to Jesus said to Peter, It is the Lord! Hearing that it was the Lord, Peter put his coat round him (because he was not clothed) and went into the sea. read more. And the other disciples came in the little boat (they were not far from land, only about two hundred cubits off) pulling the net full of fish. When they got to land, they saw a fire of coals there, with fish cooking on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, Get some of the fish which you have now taken. So Peter went to the boat and came back pulling the net to land, full of great fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and though there was such a number the net was not broken.