The Miraculous Catch: Reflections on the Research of Mendel Nun

Updated: 10 November 2023

Since Jesus spent so much time on or near the Sea of Galilee and his disciples were Sea of Galilee fishermen, Mendel Nun’s research is important in illuminating many gospel stories. His comprehensive knowledge of ancient fishing on the Sea of Galilee has allowed him to determine the exact time and place of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry with disciples: winter on the lakeshore at Heptapegon near Capernaum.

Nun also has shown that in the story of the miraculous catch (Luke 5:1-11), Peter could only have been using a trammel net or a veranda net, a variation of the trammel net. He could not have been fishing with a seine because it was not used near Ἑπτάπηγον (Heptapegon, seven springs). The floor of the lake in that area of the coast is so rocky that the seine would have continually gotten hung up on the rocks. And it is unlikely that Peter was using a cast net because he was fishing with boat and crew.