Net

Nets were among the primary tools of fishing in the ancient biblical world, and the Gospels make them a prominent image both practically and theologically. Several types were used: the sagene (drag-net or seine), which was drawn through the water by a boat or between two boats and gathered everything in its path; the casting-net (amphiblestron), which a fisherman threw from shore or from the shallows; and various forms of nets strung between stakes in rivers. The Mediterranean and the Sea of Galilee were primary fishing grounds, and Isaiah 19:8 mentions Egyptian fishers casting nets in the Nile.

In the New Testament, the net carries significant metaphorical weight. Jesus called Simon Peter and Andrew while they were casting their nets and summoned them to become fishers of men (Matthew 4:18–19). The parable of the dragnet (Matthew 13:47–50) likens the kingdom of heaven to a net drawn in from the sea that gathers every kind, with the separation of good and bad fish at the shore representing the final judgment. John 21 records the miraculous catch of 153 fish, a post-resurrection appearance that echoes the earlier miraculous catch in Luke 5 and becomes a commissioning scene for Peter's apostolic mission.