Fishers of men

"Fishers of men" (Greek: ἁλιεῖς ἀνθρώπων, 'fishermen of men', from ὁ ἁλιεύς, 'seaman, fisherman', and ὁ/ἡ ἄνθρωπος, 'man, human being, woman') is a phrase used in the gospels to describe the mandate given by Jesus to his first disciples. Two brother fishermen, Simon called Peter and Andrew, were casting a net into the Sea of Galilee. As he commenced his preaching ministry, Jesus called them to follow him and told them that in doing so they were to become "fishers of men". The phrase is mentioned in Matthew 4:19 and Mark 1:17. Matthew's version states:

He said to them, "Follow me,
and I will make you fishers of men."

This calling of the first Apostles, which eventually become a group of twelve, made the two fishermen early followers of Jesus. There is a parallel account in Mark 1:16–20 and a similar but different story in Luke 5:1–11; the Luke story does not include the phrase "fishers of men," but features the comparable sentence "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men."^[1] The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges calls Matthew 4:19 a "condensed parable",^[2] drawn out at slightly greater length later in the same gospel.^[3]