153 large fish (MERGED)

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Our very clever scholarly priest told us yesterday that the significance of the number 153 has been a great source of debate, but has been thought to be the number of species of fish known about in that time and place. Therefore, the significance of Peter pulling in the net with 153 fish was to reinforce that he would be taking the Gospel to everyone.
 
Coincidentally 153 is the number of hail Mary’s in a traditional rosary.
 
clem456 said:
And they may have simply caught 153 fish.
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Ba-dum-tss.

Exactly.

Also kinda like with Pope Benedict was asked about the significance of wearing the camauro.

“I was really just trying to fight off the cold.”

Maybe that’s really all the passage means. One hundred fifty-three large fish, and the net did not tear.
 
porthos11 said:
Ba-dum-tss.

Exactly.

Also kinda like with Pope Benedict was asked about the significance of wearing the camauro.

“I was really just trying to fight off the cold.”

Maybe that’s really all the passage means. One hundred fifty-three large fish, and the net did not tear.
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On a side note, the language issues surrounding the interpretation of the word “love” in that Gospel conversation between Peter and Jesus are very profound.

Jesus and Peter use a couple of different sense of “love” in the original language.
Agape is what Jesus asks Peter for, Peter gives him “filia” in response twice. And our Lord accepts Peter’s response in his third query of Peter.
He takes what we have to give.

And that must have been some kinda breakfast. Fresh fish, charcoal fire, and plenty for everyone!!
 
clem456 said:
On a side note, the language issues surrounding the interpretation of the word “love” in that Gospel conversation between Peter and Jesus are very profound.

Jesus and Peter use a couple of different sense of “love” in the original language.
Agape is what Jesus asks Peter for, Peter gives him “filia” in response twice. And our Lord accepts Peter’s response in his third query of Peter.
He takes what we have to give.

And that must have been some kinda breakfast. Fresh fish, charcoal fire, and plenty for everyone!!
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Sure, but that’s a factor of the Greek being used.

Since the question was about the number of fish, sometimes, a number is just a number, even in an inspired Gospel. Sure, we can try to find some kind of theological symbolism and maybe there is, but since God has neither revealed it nor has the Church ruled on it, any “meaning” attached to one hundred fifty-three is speculation, nothing more.

I’ve seen and eaten Tilapia Galilea. They are large. A hundred fifty of them can likely be quite the load.
 
Has anyone noticed that the large catch, which threatened to break the net, was hauled ashore by Peter alone? Clearly, he was a physically strong man.
John 21:6b-11
So they cast the net, and found before long they had no strength to haul it in, such a shoal of fish was in it. 7 Whereupon the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, It is the Lord. And Simon Peter, hearing him say that it was the Lord, girded up the fisherman’s coat, which was all he wore, and sprang into the sea. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat (they were not far from land, only some hundred yards away), dragging their catch in the net behind them. 9 So they went ashore, and found a charcoal fire made there, with fish and bread cooking on it. 10 Bring some of the fish you have just caught, Jesus said to them: 11 and Simon Peter, going on board, hauled in the net to land. It was loaded with great fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and with all that number the net had not broken.
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“Fisher of men” indeed!
 
IneedGod said:
Curious,
Is there any significance in the number 153?
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I have heard that at that time it was thought that there were 153 nations in the known world, so the number is symbolic in that Peter would be catching fish or making disciples from all nations.

Additionally, although real fishing nets could become torn by the weight of a large catch, Peter’s symbolic net was not torn.
 
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