Bible Trivia - 9/11/2008

Question: With how many fish did Jesus fill the disciples’ net after his resurrection?

Answer: 153. (John 21:11)

Comments: After his resurrection, Jesus instructs the disciples to cast their nets on the right side of the boat. This action results in a catch of 153 fish. (John 21:11)

Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn. (John 21:11, NASB)

The precise number of fish has long fascinated commentators. Here are but a few of their explanations:

• Jerome (347-420) claimed that the Greeks had identified that there were exactly 153 species of fish in the sea. (Science has obviously since dispelled this theory.)
  
• Lt. Col. R. Roberts calculated at the four canonical Gospels record precisely 153 individuals who were specifically blessed by Jesus Christ. (E. W. Bullinger. (1837-1913), Number in Scripture.)
  
• The mathematician Archimedes (c 287-212 B.C.E.), in his treatise On the Measurement of the Cycle, used the whole number ratio 153:265 to accurately approximate the irrational ratio square root of 3, "the measure of the fish". 153 was known from the time of Archimedes as "the measure of the fish" or the vesica.
  

  Some have found meaning in the number itself.
  

• Augustine of Hippo (354-430) and Gregory the Great (540-604) both begin with the number 17. Gregory simply multiplies 17 by 3 and again by 3 (17x3²), and thus arrives at 153.
  
• Augustine adds that 153 is the triangular of 17. This means that it is the sum of the integer numbers from 1 to 17 inclusive. This number can be expressed as a triangle.
  
• 153 also has the rare property that it is the sum of the cubes of its own digits (i.e. 153 = 1x1x1 + 5x5x5 + 3x3x3).
  
• Others have analyzed using theomatics, a numerological study of the Greek and Hebrew text Bible. Theomatically, fish related items have a numeric value based on the number 153. For example, "Fishes" (153 x 8), "the net" (153 x 8), "multitude of fishes" (153 x 8 x 2), and "fishers of men" (153 x 14) are have numeric values divisible by 153. (Jerry Lucas, Theomatics II)

While some theories are certainly fishier than others, one thing is for certain: The disciples caught a miraculous number of fish.

Note: This oil on panel of "The miraculous draught of fishes" was painted by Joachim Beuckelaer (1533–1574) in 1563. It hangs in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.