What Does Luke 5:8 Mean?
When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at the knees of Jesus, saying, Go out from me, for I am a man who misses the mark, O Lord.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.THE KEY
The abundance makes Peter name himself by his missing: “sinful” belongs to the Greek word family for missing the mark.
THE MEANING
An encounter that overwhelms you can bring your felt distance from what is good into view. Peter sees the catch, falls at Jesus’ knees, names himself as one who misses, and asks Jesus to go away. His words hold a sharp tension: he asks for distance while already at Jesus’ knees.
THE ROOT
ἁμαρτωλός
hamartōlos
GROWS FROM
ἁμαρτ-
hamart-
The word family carries the sense of missing or erring; here it describes a person as one who misses the mark.
“a man who misses the mark” in this verse is hamartōlos. Peter does not use a separate word for a special class of irredeemable people. His self-description belongs to the same word family as missing the mark, connecting “sinful” with the gap he feels in the presence of what he has just witnessed.
ALSO GROWS
hamartanō: To miss, err, or sin.
ἁμαρτάνω
This verb shares the word family behind Peter’s description and makes the idea of missing visible beneath the English rendering.
hamartia: Missing, error, or sin.
ἁμαρτία
The related noun carries the same family sense, showing that Peter’s word for himself is connected to the act or condition of missing.
ἰδών
idōn
GROWS FROM
ὁρα- / ἰδ- (hora- / id-)
The Greek verb family means to see and perceive; its forms shift between these stems.
“saw” in this verse is idōn. Peter’s response begins with perception: he sees the catch and recognizes more than its size. What he sees brings his own sense of missing into focus.
ALSO GROWS
horaō: To see or perceive.
ὁράω
This is the verb’s dictionary form and names the act of seeing that opens the verse.
horasis: Sight or vision.
ὅρασις
This related word keeps sight connected to perception, echoing how what Peter sees becomes personally revealing.
ἔξελθε
exelthe
GROWS FROM
ἐρχ- / ἐλθ- (erch- / elth-)
The verb family means to come or go; the prefix ἐξ- (ex-, out) makes the requested movement outward.
“Depart” in this verse is exelthe. Peter asks Jesus to go out from him, making his desire for distance concrete. The scene holds that request beside the physical nearness of Peter at Jesus’ knees.
ALSO GROWS
exerchomai: To go out or depart.
ἐξέρχομαι
This is the verb family behind Peter’s request and carries the outward direction of “Depart from me.”
eiserchomai: To go in or enter.
εἰσέρχομαι
This related compound uses the same movement verb with an inward prefix, making the contrast between entering and going out audible.
THE PATTERN
An encounter with God brings a person’s felt unworthiness into speech.
Then I said, Woe is me! I am cut off, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I settle in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.And the tax collector, standing far off, would not so much as lift his eyes toward the heavens, but struck his breast, saying, God, cover me, the one who misses the mark.THE THREAD
For all have missed the mark, and fall short of the weight of God.“Sinned” belongs to the same Greek word family as Peter’s “sinful,” linking his personal confession with the shared human experience of missing. “Come short” gives that missing another shape: falling short of the glory of God.
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