Bible Strands
Matthew 4:22
and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses James and John while they are in a boat with their father Zebedee mending nets. He calls them, and the narrative records their response at that precise moment.
The words — The adverb εὐθέως (eutheōs) translates literally as "immediately," marking zero delay in their action. The aorist participle ἀφέντες (aphentes) means "having left," indicating a completed departure that precedes their following.
The thread — The same sequence of immediate departure upon a call occurs in Mark 1:20. This narrative pattern aligns with the covenant loyalty described in Deuteronomy 33:9 and the later priority teaching in Matthew 10:37.
Why it lands — The text states that the brothers abandoned their boat and their father to follow Jesus without delay. It requires a reader to treat obedience as an immediate, non-negotiable action rather than a deferred consideration.
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 they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed 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;
- 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.
- Mark 1:20 Immediately Jesus called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Him.
- Luke 9:59 Then He said to another man, “Follow Me.” The man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
- 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.
- Luke 14:33 In the same way, any one of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple.
- 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.