The mission originates in captivation: ἁλιεύω, πιάζω, σύρω, ἕλκω. (Jn 21:6-11) 99 traceable to a “holy man”, such as Jesus, would afflict the lucky fisher- folk with superstitious fears and fancies24. This has a bearing on Peter’s precautions at our §V below. Be that as it may, ἁλιεύειν at 21:3 must be rendered as if it were “hunting, specifically fishing”, since that is the automatic Aramaic equivalent. The Gk distinction between κυνηγετικά and ἁλιευτικά is self-explanatory, but is not raised here. To return momentarily to θηράω, one could catch delinquents with a net25. Of course one fished for delinquents (Jer 16:16; 1 QH V.7-9 (= VIII. 7-9; cf. Is 19:8). But one should not explain “Fishers of people” in the light of Jer 16:16 even as a conscious rejection of the latter26; and, still more, in the entirely negative sense as “eschatological” fishers of sinners for punishment, even if the “fishing” could have a happy outcome27. “Fish- ing”, meanwhile, lends itself to metaphorical use28. Biblical Heb. uses the metaphor of hunting widely (Is 8:1–15); being snared is a common metaphor for careless optimism (Prov 6:1-5); to be snared with the words of one’s mouth is a sad condition (Prov 6:1 LXX, Tg., Vulg.). One can be netted, to induce one to commit idolatry29. Belial sets nets to trap the unwary into sin (probably enslaving them: CD 4:13- 18). Evil hunts the wicked, too (Ps 140:11), yet escape from a snare is possible (Ps 91:3; 124:7; 141:9-10). In the Third World still many people fear their souls’ being snared30. Greeks knew entanglement, enticement by verbal dexterity31. We know Socrates was good at this. Jews would appreciate that to “hunt men” is to “catch them out”, confute them, cause them to contradict or convict For any hunt to succeed the hunters and their families must be pure (the animals 24 are aware of their spiritual status): Derrett, “ἨΣΑΝ”, 115,123-124 (Studies III, 8, 16-17). Homer, epigr. 8. J.G. Frazer, Golden Bough, abr. edn. (Oxford, 1998), 35,36,101,105, and esp. 179. Lucian, Dial. Deor. 21 (17) (L.C.L., Lucian VII,334). 25 O. Betz, “Donnersöhne, Menschenfischer und der Davidische Messias”, RQ 3 (1961), 26 41-70. Wuellner, Meaning, 94, 132, 138, 140, 170. G. Klein “Die Berufung des Petrus”, ZNW 58 (1967), 1-44 at pp. 37-38. Smith, “Fishers”, 190, 195, 196, 200, 201 cannot avoid concluding that in a very early 27 stratum of the gospel Jesus recruited fishers to gather the people to be judged, an opinion to which Mt 13:47-50 seems to lend support. Klein, “Berufung” 36 n. 146, disagrees. 2 Tim 2:26; Tg Prov 23:28 (cf. Sir 9:3-4); Bab. Talm., Sot. 4b (Sonc. trans., 16); cf. Is 28 8:14-15; Wisd 14:11; Sir 27:28; LXX Prov 18:6-7. Midr. R. Esther on Est 3:2 (Ps 140: 6(5)). 29 Frazer, Golden (n. 24 above),154, 159-161. 30 Timo’s comment on Pythagoras (fr. 57), who delighted in confounding strangers 31 with verbal gymnastics, hunting them: so Diogenes Laertius, Pythagoras VIII.36 (L.C.L..1 Diogenes Laertius, II, 353). There is a fine expostulation against Socrates at Plato, Gorgias 489B (trans. B. Jowett, Oxford, 1892, ii, 376). Benevolent “capture”: Plato, Phaedrus 253C; courting: Diog. Laert. IV. 47.