Fish (OT :^, .nji!) are designated in the NT only by the general term Ix^is, alternating occasionally witli its diminutive IxSOSiov, without the employ- ment of the latter term necessarily marking any intended distinction ; cf. for an instance in point, Mt 15^^ with v.**. Nowhere in the whole Bible do we find a special name for a deflni
Fish formed a large part of the : side population. This may be interred trom the threefold question of Jesus (Lk 11", cf. Mt V), in which the commonest foods are enumerated : bread, fish, eggs. The same conclusion is implied in what is related with rff.Tence to the two multi- plications of the loaves. On the occasion of the first (Mt 14'3--i, Mk 0^"", Lk 9'"", Jn G'"'') it is said that there was present a lad with five loaves and two fishes ; in the account of the second (Mt X532-39_ Mk S'-") it is mentioned that, in addition to the seven loaves, there Avere also ' a few small fishes.' We may cite, further, Lk 24*=.
It is interesting to note that for the ' small fishes ' of the other narratives the Fourth Gospel employs the term o-i^tiptov, which properly signifies simply ' nourishment,' ' footl." Bochart(iffe<-o;. i. p. 41) has already shown that this word was employed in the same way by the best Greek writers, €.(/■ Plato, Mena'nder, etc., and that i-J/o^ayaj is met with .'is synonymous with ' fish-eaters.'
It is legitimate to supnose that a trade in fisli was carried on between the Lake of Tiberias and the rest of the country. The name of tlie town of Tarichew (taptxe^ai), situated on tlie shore of tlie Lake, implies a business connected with salted provisions (rdpixoi). It may be that this traffic ex- tended as far a-s Jerusalem ; some have supposed that it was in this way that one of Jesus' disciples, the companion of Simon Peter, was known to the high priest (Jn 18'"-); but this is nothing more than an ingenious conjecture.
'Fisher'* or 'fisherman' (Heb. :~) is e.\pres.sed in the NT by aXeevs or aXievs ; the verli ' to fish' by dXiei/cii-. Several of the first and princi- pal disciples followed the calling of fishermen. The Synoptics describe tlie scene when Jesus called them to follow Him (Mt 4'»-=-, Mk I's-^, Lk 5'-"). These three narratives contain the promise, 'I will make you fishers of men.' Lk. connects the story with tlie miraculous draught ; cf. in this respect also Jn 21*-". In one of the parables of the Kingdom (Mt IS"-'") Jesus compares tlie latter to a net : and the separation wliich the fishermen make, in tlieir catcli, between what is good and what is bad, is used to symbolize tlie
separation of the righteous from the wicked at the Final Judgment. The criterion by which good and bad fish are distinguished is not expressly indicated. The point in view might be the differ- ence between clean and unclean foods as defined by the Law (cf. Dt W-, Lv ll"'-) ; but there might be other motives, such as those which Lortet indicates in the case of modern fishermen, wlio reject certain tish on account of their inferior size {Foissons ct HeptUcs du lac. cle Tlb&riade, p. 52), their disagreeable aspect (ib. pp. 32, 82), or their unpleasant muddy flavour (ib. pp. 35, 58, 64).
11 li-lii II i. II 'ouietimes carried on their trade in I I ! i^ .still the case at the present
day. Ill I Ml men of Tiberias form a Kind of ciiipiiiiii i-ii w II ii lixed rules. The number of fish- ing vessels uii the Lake at the beginning of the Ckristian era must have been very considerable. Josephua (BJ II. xxi. 8) speaks of 330 (v.l. 230) ; see also Mk 4**, Jn 6^. Forty years ago Furrer found only a single boat ; Lortet saw three in 1875 and six in 1880 ; Frei counted nine in 1886, and the present writer saw the same number in 1894, while in 1899 he noted fourteen ; and no doubt the number has increased since then.
The fishermen made use of nets. One of the Greek terms employed (Mt 13*') is aa-^ivri, seine, 'drag-net,' a large net which two or more boats arrange in a circle in the lake, in such a way as to enclose a vast space with a kind of vertical wall. It is kept stretclied by means of weights and floats. Then the two extremities are brouglit together, and the whole with its contents is dragged ashore. The other species of net mentioned in tlie Gospels (Mt 4'*) is the emting net (aiJiipip\ri<rTpoi'), whidi a single man throws with a skilful turn of the hand, and which is of circular form, like an umbrella. Once it has been plunged in the water it is drawn out with the captured fish. This is stUl tlie method most frequently ])ursued in our own time. The other passages where nets are spoken of (Mt 4'-''"-, Mk l'*'-, Lk 5--^, Jn 21''-") use the general term Slktvov, which might be applied to any kind of net. Some texts speak of washing and of mending nets (Lk 5=, Mt 4=\ Mk 119). See also Nets.
The Gospels only once mention line - fishing, namely in Mt 17", where we read of Peter casting the hook {iyKKTrpoy), which Avas certainly placed at the end of a cord or line, but we cannot say whether the latter was attached to a rod or long reed or was simply held in the hand. In the NT there is no mention of harpooning fish (contrast Job 41' [He 40^']). At the present day we still meet with examples of this practice.