As to the argument from the difference of style, we confidently deny that any such difference exists. Kuinoel, no mean judge on such a point, and certainly not a prejudiced witness, says: “Omnino probari nequit, scribendi genus, in hoc capite, si clausulam[140] ejus exceperis, diversum esse a scribendi genere, quod in reliquo Evangelio deprehenditur.”
| 1. Postea manifestavit se iterum Iesus discipulis ad mare Tiberiadis. Manifestavit autem sic: | 1. After this Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias. And he shewed himself after this manner. |
1. After this. How many days after Low Sunday (xx. 26) the events now to be recorded occurred, we cannot determine. In the meantime, at all events, the disciples had left Jerusalem and gone to Galilee (Mat. xxviii. 16), in obedience to the express desire of their Divine Master (Mat. xxviii. 7; Mark xvi. 7).
The sea of Tiberias. See above on [vi. i].
| 2. Erant simul Simon Petrus, et Thomas, qui dicitur Didymus, et Nathanael, qui erat a Cana Galilaeae, et filii Zebedaei, et alii ex discipulis eius duo. | 2. There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas who is called Didymus, and Nathanael who was of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. |
2. Nathanael is most probably the same with Bartholomew, the Apostle. See above on [i. 45].
And two others of his disciples. Who they were we cannot tell. Had “the sons of Zebedee” not been already named, it would be quite in the style of our Evangelist to refer to his brother James and himself in this way.
| 3. Dicit eis Simon Petrus: Vado piscari, Dicunt ei: Venimus et nos tecum. Et exierunt, et ascenderunt in navim: et illa nocte nihil prendiderunt. | 3. Simon Peter saith to them: I go a fishing. They say to him: We also come with thee. And they went forth and entered into the ship, and that night they caught nothing. |
3. As they had not yet begun to preach the Gospel, and thus to have a right to support from the faithful, they had to provide themselves with the necessaries of life, and so they “go a fishing.”
And they went forth from the house where they were, and entered into the ship (τὸ πλοῖον), which was there, lent or hired for their use; and that night they caught nothing, God having so arranged, no doubt, in order to make the miracle of the following morning more remarkable.