Bible Strands
Mark 1:20
Immediately Jesus called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Him.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus calls James and John while they repair nets in a boat with their father Zebedee and hired men.
The words — εὐθὺς (euthus) translates as immediately, and ἀφέντες (aphentes) translates as having left.
The thread — The requirement to abandon family for discipleship reappears in Matthew 10:37, Mark 10:29, and Luke 14:26.
Why it lands — The text records an immediate departure from family and livelihood to follow Christ, demanding the same unconditional priority in response.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.
Cross-references
- Matthew 10:37 Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;
- Mark 10:29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for My sake and for the gospel
- Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.
- 1 Kings 19:20 So Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, and then I will follow you.” “Go on back,” Elijah replied, “for what have I done to you?”
- Matthew 4:21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Jesus called them,
- Matthew 8:21 Another of His disciples requested, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
- 2 Corinthians 5:16 So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.
- Deuteronomy 33:9 He said of his father and mother, ‘I do not consider them.’ He disregarded his brothers and did not know his own sons, for he kept Your word and maintained Your covenant.