John 21:5

Joh_21:5

Jesus said unto them, Have ye any meat?

The tender love of the risen Christ

The question pertained to the wants of the body. Christs resurrection body was still in sympathy with theirs. The higher He rose the deeper and more perfect were His sympathies. He could hunger no more, be weary no more: yet this made Him more keenly alive to the privations of His brethren. He did not need to put the question: yet He wishes to speak to them as a human friend interested in their welfare. He awakens their confidence as a stranger, but soon drops the strangers dress. Blessed surprise! Such as that of Mary and the Emmaus travellers; as if He delighted in the surprises of love.

I. THE WATCHFULNESS OF THE RISEN CHRIST. He marks each sheep and lamb of His flock with more than a shepherds eye. The glory with which He is surrounded does not make Him unwatchful. Amidst His plenty He remembers the penury of His own. You never lacked a meal but Jesus asked this question to supply it. You never lacked a spiritual meal but He puts the same question for the same purpose. He watches the hunger of every congregation, and asks, Children, have ye any meat?

II. THE PITY OF THE RISEN CHRIST. I have compassion on the multitudes, He once said. Such was His pity after His resurrection; and we are sure that the throne has not lessened that pity. He pities His Churchs and each saints hunger and leanness. Let us learn this and imitate it.

III. THE BOUNTY OF THE RISEN CHRIST. His is no empty pity. He does not say merely, Be ye warmed and filled: He opens His treasure-house and supplies us. His stores are boundless. He delights to dispense them; nay, to provide channels for them, as in the case of the disciples when He filled their nets, kindled the fire, and prepared the meal. He fills the cruse and barrel of His widowed Church, and feeds us with the finest of the wheat. (H. Bonar, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 21:5. Παιδία, Children, Little sons) A name of age [i.e. such as would be used by an aged person]. He addresses them as though He were one unknown, lovingly, from an elevation above them, as being the eternal Wisdom.[400]—προσφάγιον, meat) as for instance a fish.—οὐ, no) Human art is not always consistent with itself [cannot always produce the same results]: but Joh 21:6, the Divine blessing always is [always can].

[400] Aeterna, referring to the previous “ætatis.” He had used a name applied by age to youth, being indeed Himself the Wisdom, who has existed through all ages.—E. and T.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_21:5-6. Παιδία] Not un-Johannean (1Jn_2:14; 1Jn_2:18), although in Joh_13:33 τεκνία is used.

μή τι προσφάγ. ἔχετε] The emphasis lies, as frequently, on the concluding word: you are not, I suppose, (already) in possession of something to eat? The question presupposes the opinion of the questioner, that they had probably as yet taken nothing, as well as the thought that in the opposite case He need not step in. That, however, He designates fishes exactly by προσφάγιον, is grounded on the fact that He intends to take a breakfast with the disciples on the fishes, after which He inquires. On προσφάγ. itself, which is, like the Attic ὄψον, used especially of fishes (comp. προσφάγημα, Moeris, p. 204. 24; προσόψημα, Athen. iv. p. 162 C, vii. p. 276 E), see Sturz, Dial. Al. p. 191; Fischer, de vitiis, Lex. p. 697 f.

The disciples simply answer: no; they have therefore taken Him for an entire stranger, who perhaps wishes to buy fishes for breakfast. The παιδία, intended by Jesus in the sense of fatherly love, they may have regarded, in the mouth of the unknown, as a friendly designation of the state of service (Nonnus: παῖδες ἁλὸς δρηστῆρες; Euth. Zigabenus: τοὺς ἐργατικούς). Comp. on Joh_6:6.

εἰς τὰ δεξιὰ μ.] They had the net then in the lake, on quite another side of the boat.

οὐκέτι] no more, as previously, when it was empty and light. Observe the pictorial imperf. ἴσχυον (see the critical notes).

ἑλκῦσαι] draw, draw up the submerged net. On the other hand, σύροντες, Joh_21:8 : tugging, dragging forth. See Tittmann, Synon. p. 57 f.

ἀπό] on account of. See Bernhardy, p. 224.

To regard the above fruitless toils (on the left, it is thought), and this abundant take on the right, as a figure of the apostolic activity, in relation first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles (Grotius, Weitzel, Hengstenberg, Godet, Hilgenfeld, and several others), is too special, and not even conformable to history (Gal_2:9; Act_22:20, et al., comp. Luthardt), without prejudice, moreover, to the symbolism of the draught of fishes in itself; see note after Joh_21:14.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 21:5 . λέγει οὖν … ἔχετε ; The οὖν is not merely continuative, but indicates that what Jesus said was in some respect prompted by their ignorance of His identity. This is neglected by Lücke when he says that παιδία is not Johannine, and that τεκνία is the regular term used by Jesus in addressing the disciples. Yes, when He openly addresses them; but here He uses the word any stranger might use, and the rendering “children” retained even in R.V [98] is wrong. It should be “lads”; παιδίον being the common term of address to men at work, see Aristophanes, Clouds , 137, Frogs , 33; Euthymius, ἔθος γὰρ τοὺς ἐργατικὸς οὕτως ὀνομάζειν . Jesus appeared as an intending purchaser and cries, μήτι προσφάγιον ἔχετε ; “Have you taken any fish?” (R.V [99] : “have ye anything to eat?” misapprehends both the words and the situation). προσφάγιον , as its composition shows, means anything eaten as seasoning or “kitchen” to bread; being the Hellenistic word used instead of the Attic ὄψον or προσόψημα . Athenaeus and Plutarch both tell us that fish was so commonly used in this way that προσφάγιον came to mean “fish”. ἔχετε has its quasitechnical sense, “have ye caught?” For this sense, see Aristophanes, Clouds , 705 (723, 731), where Socrates asks Strepsiades under the blanket, ἔχεις τι ; on which the Scholiast remarks, χαριέντως τὸ ἔχεις τι , τῇ τῶν ἀγρευτῶν λέξει χρώμενος · τοῖς γὰρ ἁλιεῦσιν ἢ ὀρνιθαγρευταῖς οὕτω φασὶν , ἔχεις τι . So that the words of Jesus are: “Lads, have ye caught no fish?” ἀπεκρίθησαν αὐτῷ , “ Οὔ ”. “They answered Him, ‘No,’ ” without any Κύριε or Διδάσκαλε .

[98] Revised Version.

[99] Revised Version.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Children--This term would not necessarily identify Him, being not unusual from any superior; but when they did recognize Him, they would feel it sweetly like Himself.

have ye any meat?--provisions, supplies, meaning fish.

They answered . . . No--This was in His wonted style, making them tell their case, and so the better prepare them for what was coming.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 5. Children] παιδια, a term of familiarity and affectionate kindness: it is the vocative case plural of παιδιον, which is the diminutive of παις, and literally signifies little children, or beloved children. How the margin has made sirs out of it I cannot conceive.

Any meat] προσφαγιον from προς, besides, and φαγω, I eat; any thing that is eaten with bread, or such like solid substances, to make the deglutition the more easy: here it evidently means any kind of fish; and our Lord seems to have appeared at first in the character of a person who wished to purchase a part of what they had caught: See Clarke on Joh 6:9.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(5) Children, have ye any meat?—The word rendered “Children” (or, as the margin has it, Sirs), is used in addressing others only by St. John among the New Testament writers (1Jn_2:13; 1Jn_2:18). It is not the word used in Joh_13:33, where we have an expression denoting His affectionate tenderness for the disciples, which would not have been appropriate here, for He does not at once reveal His identity to them. It is a word which, indeed, may express His love for them (comp. Joh_4:49), but which appears also to have been used as an address to workmen or inferiors, not unlike our own words “boys” or “lads.” They seem to take it in this sense, as though some traveller passing by asked the question because he wished to purchase some of their fish.

The word rendered “meat” occurs here only in the New Testament. It means anything eaten with bread, and was used as equivalent to the fish which was the ordinary relish. (Comp. Note on Joh_6:9.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. Then Jesus] Jesus therefore; because they did not recognise Him.

Children] Perhaps a mere term of friendly address (paidia); not the affectionate term used Joh_13:33 (teknia). Paidia occurs 1Jn_2:14; 1Jn_2:18; teknia occurs 1Jn_2:1; 1Jn_2:12; 1Jn_2:28; 1Jn_3:7; 1Jn_3:18; 1Jn_4:4; 1Jn_5:21.

meat] The Greek word (prosphagion) occurs here only. It appears to mean something eaten with bread, especially fish. Perhaps we should translate, Have ye any fish?

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then Jesus saith unto them, children,.... And still they knew him not, though he used this endearing and familiar appellation, and which they had been wont to hear from him; and he had called them by a little before his departure from them, Joh 13:33 and which he uses here as expressive of his tender affection for them, their relation to him, and that he might be known by them:

have ye any meat? that is, as the Syriac renders it, , "anything to eat"; meaning fish that they had caught; and whether they had got a sufficient quantity to make a meal of for him and them.

They answered him no; they had got nothing at all; or at least what they had was far from being enough to make a breakfast of; for so a meal early in a morning may be most properly called, though it is afterwards called dining. Christ's children, true believers, are sometimes without spiritual food; there is always indeed enough in Christ, and he has an heart to give it; but either through prevailing iniquity they feed on something else, or do not go to him for food, or go elsewhere; but he will not suffer them to starve; for as he has made provisions for them in the ministry of the word and ordinances; and he himself is the bread of life; if they do not ask him for food, he will ask them whether they have any; will kindly invite them to the provisions he himself makes; will bid them welcome, and bless them to them.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.

Ver. 5. Children, have ye any meat?] This he saith as seeming to be some housekeeper, who passing by fishermen, calls to them, as willing to buy their fish for the use of his family. Galeacius Caracciolus, that noble marquis of Vico (that left all for Christ, preferring the blessing of God before the world’s warm sun), would go into the market at Geneva and cater for his household; grieving for nothing more than that he had not wherewithal to keep a better house for the relief of the poor. And in that respect only he wished himself as great a man at Geneva as he was in Italy. (His Life by Crashaw.)

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Children - A term of affection and friendship, 1Jo 2:18.

Any meat - This word (Greek) means anything eaten with bread. It was used by the Greeks especially to denote fish (Schleusner).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Have you any meat?[1] Have you any thing to eat? This is what is literally signified, both in the Latin and in the Greek text. (Witham)

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Numquid pulmentarium habetis? Greek: me ti prosphagion.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

He asketh them if they had any thing to eat, not because he knew not, but in order to what he intended to do to make them more attentive to the miracle which he by and by intended to work.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5. Children—A term of endearment, translated little children in 1Jn_2:18. It marks the absent Saviour’s love for his Church on earth. He is the Ancient of Days; they are ever being successively born into life.

Have ye any meat?—The word meat signifies any food eaten additionally to bread, and here fish. Chrysostom says our Lord addresses them as though he were one who wanted to buy fish. No—The question was to bring out their complete failure, preparatory to his giving the command that would ensure success. It is when we have fully realized our own insufficiency that we receive of the fulness of Christ.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 5, 6. Jesus therefore saith unto them. They failed to recognize his first appearance, so he permits them to hear the voice which had often poured such music into their ears. Children; not teknia , the phrase used Joh_13:33, but paidia , "young people," "lads a term of less intimate familiarity, though the apostle himself used it in 1Jn_2:13, 18 (in vers. 1 and 12 treknia is used, apparently in interchange with it). The mh ti suggests a negative answer. Prosfagion is that which is eaten with bread, and is commonly oqon or oqarion , something roasted for the purpose of eating with bread. Since fish was very frequently used for the purpose, the word was often used for "fish" itself. (LXX, Num_11:22Jo Num_6:9, Num_6:11. Other equivalent words are found in Attic Greek, prosfaghma, prosoqhma) Children (lads, young men yonder), you have nothing, I suppose, to eat? They answered him, No. In all this scene the risen Lord showed himself interested and co-operating with them in their daily toil, as engaged in the same work with them. Their listless manner showed that they had toiled in vain, and, perhaps with tone or gesture of unwillingness to confess their failure, they replied in the negative. Then he said to them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship; the side opposite to that on which they were dragging it along. Moreover, the "right hand," the "right eye," the "right ear," the "right side," are proverbially the more useful, fruitful, or honorable. The imagery is preserved throughout Scripture. And ye shall find. Therefore they cast it. And in order to do this they would probably have had to haul a considerable portion of it into the boat for the necessary transference from left to right. They at once obeyed the summons, remembering what they had previously found to have been their experience, (Lu 5) and no longer were they able, or had they strength, to draw it into the boat. Elkusai , is here quite a different process from the surontev of ver. 8, which describes the hauling, tugging, of the net to shore. The difficulty arose from (or, because of) the multitude of the fishes. The miracle here is a simple indication of the higher knowledge which the Lord possessed. This huge shoal may, humanly speaking, have been perceived in its approach; so that the event is more impressive in its analogical force than in its supernatural machinery. It suggests the surprising results that would accompany their labor when they should under the Lord"s own injunction and inspiration, become veritable fishers of men. The parabolic teaching of this miracle is unusually obvious.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. παιδία. Perhaps a mere term of friendly address, like our ‘young people’ (1Jn 2:14; 1Jn 2:18); less affectionate than τεκνία (Joh 13:33; 1Jn 2:1; 1Jn 2:12; 1Jn 2:28; 1Jn 3:7; 1Jn 3:18; 1Jn 4:4; 1Jn 5:21), which implies the filial relationship. Thus Jesus addressed the Magdalene as Γύναι before He called her by name (Joh 20:15-16). Προσφάγιον occurs here only: it seems to mean anything eaten with bread, especially fish: comp. ὄψον, ὀψάριον (Joh 6:9). Possibly it means no more than ‘something to eat:’ but it may also mean ‘fish;’ and ἔχειν in fishing and fowling is used in the sense of ‘to catch.’ Perhaps we should translate Have ye taken any fish? This agrees with the context better than enquiries about food. A negative answer is anticipated: comp. Joh 4:29, Joh 7:31, Joh 8:22, Joh 18:35.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5.] λέγ. οὖν is in John’s manner.

παιδία] See reff. In ch. 13:33 we have τεκνία.

προσφάγιον is said by the grammarians to be the Hellenic form equivalent to the Attic ὄψον, signifying any thing eaten as an additament to bread, but especially fish. So that here the best rendering would be as in A.V.R., Have ye any fish?

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. λέγει … Ἰησοῦς. The rec. inserts ὁ before Ἰης. with A2CDLNΘ, but om. אB.

παιδία is not put into the mouth of Jesus in any other Gospel passage, when He is addressing His disciples. It is a colloquial form of address, as we might say “My boys,” or “lads,” if calling to a knot of strangers of a lower social class. παιδίον is thus used in Aristophanes (Nub. 137, Ran. 33). The use of παιδία in 1Jn 2:13, 1Jn 2:18 is different.

Jesus says τεκνία to the disciples at 13:33, but to have employed a tender term of this kind would at once have betrayed His identity by the lake-side.

μή τι προσφάγιον ἔχετε; i.e. “have you caught any fish?” Wetstein (approved by Field) quotes a scholium on Aristoph. Clouds, 731, viz. ἔχεις τι; schol. χαριέντως τὸ · ἔχεις τι τῇ τῶν ἀγρευτῶν λέξει χρώμενος · τοῖς γὰρ ἁλιεῦσιν ἤ ὀρνιθαγρευταῖς οὕτω φασίν· ἔχεις τι; That is to say, ἔχεις τι is the phrase in which a bystander would say to a fisherman or fowler, “Have you had any sport?” προσφάγιον, lit. a “relish,” something to season food, is a Hellenistic word like όψον or ὀψάριον for “fish,” which was the relish in common use. See on v. 10 below. προσφάγιον is not found elsewhere in the Greek Bible.

The form of the question, beginning with μή, suggests that a negative answer is expected (see on 6:67),1 so that we may render “Boys, you have not had any catch, have you?” And, accordingly, they answered, “No.” See on 4:29.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Children [παιδια] . Or, little children. Used also by John, in address, twice in the First Epistle (ii. 13, 18), where, however, the more common word is teknia, little children.

Have ye any meat [μη τι προσφαγιον εχετε] ? The interrogative mh ti indicates that a negative answer is expected : you have not, I suppose, anything. Prosfagion is equivalent to ojyarion, what is added to bread at a meal, especially fish. See on 6 9. Only here in the New Testament. Wyc, any supping - thing. 55

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vv. 5, 6. “Jesus says to them, Children, have you anything to eat? They answered him, No. 6. He said to them, Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you shall find. They cast it therefore;and they were not able to draw it because of the multitude of the fishes.”

The term παιδία, young people, boys, is not foreign to the language of John (1Jn 2:13; 1Jn 2:18). If the more tender term τεκνία, little children, is not used, as in Joh 13:33, it is because Jesus could not have expressed Himself thus without making Himself known. He uses the expression of a master speaking to his workmen. The negative sense of the interrogative form μή τι may, as in Joh 6:67, be rendered thus: You have nothing then ...? The sequel will explain this question. Jesus does not look merely at a catching of fish, as in Luke 5, but at a meal. It is not necessary, therefore, to suppose, with Chrysostom, Tholuck and others, that Jesus wished to present Himself to them as a trader who was desirous of purchasing fish.

The wordπροσφάγιον is not found again in John; it denotes literally what is added to bread at a meal; in this case, the fish.

The apostles suppose that this stranger understands fishing, and that he has noticed some indication fitted to give occasion for his advice. It has been thought that the opposition between the left side of the boat, where they had cast the net during the night to no purpose, and the right side, where they were about to make their magnificent draught, typified the contrast between the failure of the work of evangelization in Israel and its infinitely rich fruits in the Gentile world. But, besides the fact that this seems contrary to what is related in Acts 2-5 and Act 21:20 (μυριάδες), it is necessary to hold to the general idea of the immense success which will be gained in the world by the preaching of the Gospel, at every time when the apostles shall suffer themselves to be directed by the Lord, and shall work with Him. This meaning could not escape them, provided they remembered the terms of the original call: “I will make you fishers of living men.” They could understand it, however, only after having recognized Jesus.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.