16ᐯ One day Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee. There he saw Simon and his brother Andrew. They were throwing a net into the lake. They were fishermen.

Mark 1:16
  • Location: Galilee
  • Subject: Jesus Rebel
  • Narrator: Mars
  • Author: Flavius Josephus
  • Created: Flavian Imperial Cult

“Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon” In the Greek, the name Simon is used twice, which seems to indicate two people named Simon. Some translations simply assume that the first Simon is the brother of Andrew. Either way, arranging them like this helped to highlight the idea that all the Jews only have a handful of names between them. Andrew and Simon appear to be standing on the side of the sea, attempting to catch fish. Jesus comes to them and makes his second statement – also prophetic.

I suspect that there may be another joke here based on having two men on the side of a sea trying to catch fish, not in a boat, implying that they are either foolish or poor. I would have to know a lot more about fishing along the Sea of Galilee to find out, so that’s a rabbit hole for later.