What Does John 21:3 Mean in the King James?
Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The empty catch is named with the same word Jesus uses when he says that apart from him you can do nothing.
THE MEANING
You can join others in an effort and still find that it yields nothing. The word for the empty catch is the same word Jesus uses when he says that apart from him you can do nothing; the empty net exposes the limit of effort alone.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that united effort guarantees a result dissolves here: everyone goes out together, and they catch nothing.
THE ROOT
οὐδέν
ouden
GROWS FROM
οὐδείς
oudeis
Not one; no one or no thing.
οὐδέν (ouden, “nothing”) means “not one thing,” so the net holds no catch at all, not merely a small one. The same form appears in John 15:5, where Jesus says that apart from him you can do nothing, letting the empty net echo the limit of effort alone.
ALSO GROWS
oudeis: No one; not a single person.
οὐδείς
The same “not one” construction can refer to a person, while the verse’s form applies the emptiness to the catch.
ouden: Nothing; not one thing.
οὐδέν
This exact form recurs in John 15:5, joining the empty catch to Jesus’ statement about what can be done apart from him.
THE PATTERN
Effort can labor earnestly and still bear nothing when it is apart from its sustaining source.
A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.THE THREAD
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.John 21:3 and John 15:5 share the Greek word οὐδέν (ouden, “nothing”). In one, it names the empty catch; in the other, Jesus uses it to name what can be done apart from him.
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