Passage

Matthew 4.18-20

Book: Matthew · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"16. the people that sat in darkness saw a great light, and to them that sat in the region and shadow of death, to them did light spring up. 17. From that time began Jesus to preach, and to say, Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

"18. And walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brethren, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers. 19. And he saith unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you fishers of men. 20. And they straightway left the nets, and followed him."

"21. And going on from thence he saw two other brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. 22. And they straightway left the boat and their father, and followed him." (Matthew 4:16-22, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"16. the people who sat in darkness saw a great light, to those who sat in the region and shadow of death, to them light has dawned.” 17. From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”"

"18. Walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers: Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19. He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men.” 20. They immediately left their nets and followed him."

"21. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them. 22. They immediately left the boat and their father, and followed him." (Matthew 4:16-22, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"16. The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. 17. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

"18. And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 19. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 20. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him."

"21. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. 22. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him." (Matthew 4:16-22, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"16. the people that is sitting in darkness saw a great light, and to those sitting in a region and shadow of death, light arose to them.' 17. From that time began Jesus to proclaim and to say, 'Reform ye, for come nigh hath the reign of the heavens.'"

"18. And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon named Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a drag into the sea, for they were fishers, 19. and he saith to them, 'Come ye after me, and I will make you fishers of men,' 20. and they, immediately, having left the nets, did follow him."

"21. And having advanced thence, he saw other two brothers, James of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, refitting their nets, and he called them, 22. and they, immediately, having left the boat and their father, did follow him." (Matthew 4:16-22, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.