Isaiah 19:8 - "The fishermen will mourn and lament, all who cast hook in the Nile; and they will languish who spread nets upon the water."

Matthew 4:18 - "As he walked 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."

Luke 5:2 - "And he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets."

Fishing was an important vocation of Bible land people. There were four methods of fishing common in biblical times which are referred to in the Bible:

First, there was spear fishing. In this method, a harpoon or trident was thrown at the fish. Job said, "Can you fill his skin with harpoons, or his head with fishing spears?" (Job 41:7). This means that fishing is very old.

The second method was angling; the common hook and line method. Peter used a hook to catch the fish in which he found a coin to pay the temple tax (Matthew 17:27). We also have our text from Isaiah and also Amos, who said, "They shall take you away with hooks, even the last of you with fishhooks" (Amos 4:2). It’s interesting to note that archaeologists, have found such fishhooks in Galilee.

The third method was that of casting a drag-net. But this can be broken down into two further methods: in one, boats form a circle, the net is placed in the water, and the boats pull in the net as they move to the center; in the other, they let down the nets in a semi-circle, and then draw it to shore. Peter and Andrew were casting nets into the sea when Jesus met them and called them to be his disciples.

The fourth method is that of the small hand net. The net is draped over the arm of the fisherman who stands on or near the shore; the net is thrown in a cone-shaped fashion over the water and lead weights pull it to the bottom; and then the net is drawn back.

The nets were always washed after they were used, and hung in the sun to dry. The fishermen had to be constantly on their guard so that rips and tears were mended immediately. James and John were mending their nets when Jesus spoke to them.

Many of the lands surrounding Israel enjoyed fishing and regarded it as a sport. Not so the Hebrews - they considered it hard work! But it was a staple part of their diet, and so a necessary occupation.

It also very early had developed into almost a science. Fishermen often worked in groups, or guilds, and they sometimes fished at night, helping each other. They were adept at grading fish, throwing out the small ones, and keeping the more edible sizes.

Today fishermen carry on in many areas. All you have to do is go through the frozen food sections of the groceries, and look at the many kinds of fish waiting for consumption, and you will agree that many men have worked many long hours to produce such an array. Or go to the canned foods sections. The same holds true there. There are even shelves full of delicacies from other lands, such as pickled octopus, preserved tuna, and such. They may not meet our tastes, but at least they do show us that fishing is still a very big time operation.