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 that are in the River die, and the River hath stank, and the Egyptians have been wearied of drinking waters from the River.' And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thy hand against the waters of Egypt, against their streams, against their rivers, and against their ponds, and against all their collections of waters; and they are blood -- and there hath been blood in all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in those of stone.' read more. And Moses and Aaron do so, as Jehovah hath commanded, and he lifteth up his hand with the rod, and smiteth the waters which are in the River, before the eyes of Pharaoh, and before the eyes of his servants, and all the waters which are in the River are turned to blood, and the fish which is in the River hath died, and the River stinketh, and the Egyptians have not been able to drink water from the River; and the blood is in all the land of Egypt.
This ye do eat of all which are in the waters; any one that hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the brooks, them ye do eat; and any one that hath not fins and scales in the seas, and in the brooks, of any teeming creature of the waters, and of any creature which liveth, which is in the waters -- an abomination they are to you; read more. yea, an abomination they are to you; of their flesh ye do not eat, and their carcase ye abominate. Any one that hath not fins and scales in the waters -- an abomination it is to you.
We have remembered the fish which we do eat in Egypt for nought, the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick;
This ye do eat of all that are in the waters; all that hath fins and scales ye do eat; and anything which hath not fins and scales ye do not eat; unclean it is to you.
And the Tyrians have dwelt in it, bringing in fish, and every ware, and selling on sabbath to the sons of Judah and in Jerusalem.
Dost thou fill with barbed irons his skin? And with fish-spears his head?
And lamented have the fishers, And mourned have all casting angle into a brook, And those spreading nets on the face of the waters have languished. And ashamed have been makers of fine flax, And weavers of net-works. read more. And its foundations have been smitten, All making wages are afflicted in soul.
Sworn hath the Lord Jehovah by His holiness, That lo, days are coming upon you, And he hath taken you away with hooks, And your posterity with fish-hooks.
And Jehovah appointeth a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah is in the bowels of the fish three days and three nights.
And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon named Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a drag into the sea -- for they were fishers -- and he saith to them, 'Come ye after me, and I will make you fishers of men,' read more. and they, immediately, having left the nets, did follow him. 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, and they, immediately, having left the boat and their father, did follow him.
for, as Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.
and Simon answering said to him, 'Master, through the whole night, having laboured, we have taken nothing, but at thy saying I will let down the net.'
they answered him, 'No;' and he said to them, 'Cast the net at the right side of the boat, and ye shall find;' they cast, therefore, and no longer were they able to draw it, from the multitude of the fishes. That disciple, therefore, whom Jesus was loving saith to Peter, 'The Lord it is!' Simon Peter, therefore, having heard that it is the Lord, did gird on the outer coat, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea; read more. and the other disciples came by the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but as it were about two hundred cubits off, dragging the net of the fishes; when, therefore, they came to the land, they behold a fire of coals lying, and a fish lying on it, and bread. Jesus saith to them, 'Bring ye from the fishes that ye caught now;' Simon Peter went up, and drew the net up on the land, full of great fishes, an hundred fifty and three, and though they were so many, the net was not rent.