Jody A. Barnard 10 In place of Mark’s historical present λέγουσιν (Mk 1,30), Luke has ἠρώτησαν, which is a more clearly defined action than λέγουσιν, but aorist tense27. Finally, the fever is rebuked (aorist) yet its climactic de- parture is reported in the aorist tense (ἀφῆκεν). The healing is further highlighted by Luke’s παραχρῆμα δὲ ἀναστᾶσα, which draws attention to the instantaneous effectiveness of the healing (cf. Mk 1,31)28, yet it is an aorist tense. A miraculous catch of fish (5,1-11) Bultmann identified this pericope as a miracle story29 whereas Fitz- myer considered it a pronouncement in view of the key saying in v. 1030. But perhaps Bock is closer to the truth when he states that “there is no need to insist that a form must be simple and have only one point of fo- cus”31. Having said this there are several indicators that Luke considered the catch of fish as the central point of the episode. The phrase “when he had finished speaking”, (v. 4) forms a “tail-head linkage” with v. 3, that is; “the repetition in an adverbial or participial clause at the beginning (the head) of a new sentence, of the main verb and other information that occurred in the previous sentence (the tail)”32. It is unnecessary, since a simple δέ would have been sufficient to introduce the next event. But by employing this superfluous temporal clause, Luke recalls vv. 1-3 and slows down the pace of the narrative. This is also achieved by Simon’s remark in v. 5 which prolongs the story further and heightens the anticipation. Finally, we are brought to the edge of our seats with the words “when they did this ...“ and then satisfied with “... they caught a great multitude of fish” (v. 6). The story then continues to dwell upon the catch and the commotion it caused until v. 8, again encouraging the reader to ponder the miraculous event. Longacre describes such features as “rhetorical un- derlining” and explains that they are employed to ensure that the reader does not miss the main point33. Even as the story draws to a close, it is the miracle that dominates the scene since it is when Simon saw this that he confessed his sinfulness (v. 8) and it is because everyone witnessed the miracle that they were amazed (vv. 9-10). See BDAG, 395. 27 See Dooley and Levinsohn, Discourse, 84. 28 Bultmann, History, 217. 29 J.A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke (New York 1981; 1985) 1:562. 30 D.L. Bock, Luke 1:1-9:50; 9:51-24:53 (Grand Rapids 1994-96) 1:452. 31 Levinsohn, Discourse, 197. 32 R.E. Longacre, The Grammar of Discourse (New York 1996) 39-40. 33