What is the mystery behind 153 fish mentioned in the Bible?
The answer to this ancient mystery is finally coming to the surface ...
For thousands of years, people all over the planet have wondered why Holy Scripture goes out of its way to enumerate specifically how many large fish the apostles of Jesus Christ caught after His resurrection from the dead.
Is it just a random number, or is there perhaps some special significance hinting at some hidden message from the Almighty, Invisible God of the Bible?
The facts of this divine mystery are astounding, and when we examine verses from the Word of God itself, the messaging becomes quite clear for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear what God is broadcasting.
Let's start with the account in the 21st chapter of the Gospel of John, which describes a fishing expedition that started with futility, but ended with tremendous success when the disciples merely followed the instructions of God.
The Bible account ...
After this, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way:
Simon Peter, Thomas (called "Twin"), Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, Zebedee's sons, and two others of his disciples were together.
"I'm going fishing," Simon Peter said to them.
"We're coming with you," they told him. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
When daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not know it was Jesus.
"Friends," Jesus called to them, "you don't have any fish, do you?"
"No," they answered.
"Cast the net on the right side of the boat," he told them, "and you'll find some." So they did, and they were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish.
The disciple, the one Jesus loved, said to Peter, "It is the Lord!"
When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tied his outer clothing around him (for he had taken it off) and plunged into the sea.
Since they were not far from land (about a hundred yards away), the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish.
When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread.
"Bring some of the fish you've just caught," Jesus told them.
So Simon Peter climbed up and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish – 153 of them. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. (John 21:1-11 CSB)
Why 153 fish? ...
Why does the Word of God go out of its way to count the number of large fish?
And why is it 153? Is it merely a number like any other?
Is it simply letting us know exactly how big the haul was?
Or is there some divine significance broadcasting additional messages breathed by God for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear?
For those who have never probed this puzzle, here are some astonishing facts that will help deduce this intriguing mystery.
Let's do the math ...
153 is a PERFECT TRIANGLE number, meaning it's a number that counts the objects that can form an equilateral triangle. Every subsequent row contains an element more than the previous row.
Mathematically, it's the sum of 17 rows of elements:
1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12+13+14+15+16+17=153
Interestingly, 153 is also the 17th PERFECT triangle number in the sequence of PERFECT triangle numbers:
1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, 28, 36, 45, 55, 66, 78, 91, 105, 120, 136, 153
153 is also a PLUS PERFECT number, as the sum of the digits raised to the power of 3 actually equals the number itself.
1 cubed = 1
5 cubed = 125
3 cubed = 27
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Sum = 153
The command by Jesus to "Be PERFECT" is found in Matthew 5:48. The sum of 5+4+8 just happens to be 17.
The Bible numbers ...
In the first four books of the Old Testament, the total number of chapters is 153.
Genesis......50
Exodus.......40
Leviticus....27
Numbers...36
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TOTAL..... 153
Meanwhile, the first four books in the New Testament reveal the number of people who received a blessing from Jesus is 153.
The Gospel of Matthew has 47 people blessed by Jesus in 23 occasions
The Gospel of Mark displays 3 were blessed in 3 occasions
The Gospel of Luke reveals 94 were blessed in 14 occasions
The Gospel of John features 9 blessed in 8 occasions
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Total blessed in 4 gospels: 153
The apostle Peter, the career fisherman who drew the net of 153 fish, is mentioned in 153 verses of the King James Bible.
The apostle Paul, who was fishing for men among the Gentiles, is also mentioned in 153 verses of the King James Bible.
Deep diving the code ...
153 is coded numerous times in Hebrew words and phrases.
Many people already know that Hebrew letters also happen to be numbers. The first nine letters are the numbers 1 through 9, the next nine are 10 through 90, and the final five are 100 through 400. This coding of letters to numbers is called gematria.
Using this gematria method, there are numerous phrases in Hebrew that have a numerical value of 153.
Here are a few:
"I am the LORD your God" (ani YHWH eloheka) = 153
"Sons of God" (bene ha Elohim) = 153
"Group (company) of prophets" (khebel nevi'im) = 153
"Sons (children) of the levites" (bene levyim) = 153
"Great people" (am gadol) = 153
"King of glory" (melek ha kavod) = 153
"The Passover Lamb" (haPesach) = 153
"In haste" (ḥipazon) = 153
"Bezalel," whose name means "in the shadow of God," and who designed the tabernacle of God, has a numerical value of 153.
The very first words of the Bible in Genesis 1:1 proclaim the number 153, as the phrase "In the beginning He created" (bereshit bara) consists of nine Hebrew letters from three words.
In Hebrew:
"In" is made of 1 Hebrew letter
"Beginning" is 5 Hebrew letters
"He created" is 3 Hebrew letters
We need to remember that God is "declaring the end from the beginning" as He says in Isaiah 46:10. In other words, He's telling us the conclusion of the story right from the start.
Meanwhile, in the Book of 2 Kings, the famous prophet Elijah was sent 153 men by King Ahaziah. Specifically, there were three groups of 50 men, plus a captain for each group of 50, making a total of 153. (2 Kings 1: 9-15 KJV)
Parables are simply metaphors ...
The Bible declares outright that men and women, metaphorically, are fish!
"You have made mankind like the fish of the sea" (Habakkuk 1:14 CSB)
And Jesus famously invited His followers to be fishers of MEN.
Jesus Himself told the people He was calling: "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Matthew 4:19 KJV)
He also noted: "the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind" (Matthew 13:47 KJV)
Even in today's English, synonyms for the word fish in the Merriam-Webster Thesaurus include: man, person, human, individual, life, brother, human being, mortal, fellow, fellowman, neighbor and somebody.
It's the reason John specifically mentions "large fish" when counting the catch of 153 creatures in John 21:11. Because human beings are metaphorically large fish.
Remember that Jesus, the God who inspired the Bible to be written, spoke to people using metaphors called parables:
"Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and he did not tell them anything without a parable." (Matthew 13:34 CSB)
Mankind's future is foretold in Ezekiel 47 ...
If you ever wondered about God's future plan for everyone who ever existed, the blueprint is spelled out in the 47th chapter of the Book of Ezekiel, and the numbers 17 and 153 play a significant part.
Then he said to me: "This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed.
"And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes.
"It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; they will be places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many." (Ezekiel 47:8-10 NKJV)
Geographically, En Gedi is located on the northwestern shores of the Dead Sea. And metaphorically, we human beings are the Dead Sea, since God calls us "fish of the sea," and we're all spiritually dead until we're granted eternal life by the Spirit of God. So fishing in the Dead Sea is projecting on the parable level that God is fishing for people who are at present spiritually dead, but will eventually be revived!
And as a bonus, in its original language, Gedi just happens to be the 153rd word in this chapter. When we add the numerical value of the letters in Gedi, the total is 17. And when we add up the value of the letters in Eglaim, the total is, you guessed it, 153.
Now let's connect the 153 dots ...
From the beginning, God has declared the end the story, and it's a glorious conclusion when we understand that Jesus spoke using metaphors known as parables.
From the initial instructions from God in the first 153 chapters in the first four books of the Old Testament, to the 153 people blessed by Jesus in the first four books of the New Testament, the number 153 is a key indicator of God's control over events in our world.
Mathematically, 153 is a "perfect" triangle number as well as a "plus perfect" number, and Jesus has called us to "be perfect."
Every single person created by God is called, metaphorically on the parable level, a fish. That's why the fish in John 21:11 are called "LARGE fish," and Jesus told His apostles to fish for MEN.
The apostle Peter, a fisherman instructed by Jesus to fish for men, is mentioned in 153 verses of the King James Bible.
The apostle Paul, who was fishing for men among the Gentiles, is also mentioned in 153 verses of the King James Bible.
Human beings who stand "in the shadow of God" like Bezalel (153) who helped build the tabernacle of God, who take in Jesus, the Passover Lamb (153), in great haste (153), will grow into a great people (153), becoming sons of God (153), in the very image and likeness of the King of glory (153), who says, "I am the LORD your God!" (153)
The Maker of everyone and everything is catching people of all nations in His divine net because every single person matters to Him, and He's the one that keeps the net from tearing apart.
God has created every fish to matter, because we the people, who are the fish of the sea, all matter to Him.
Every person is designed to be lifted out of this spiritual Dead Sea in which we dwell to become immortal children of God!
The bottom line is ... Every Fish Matters!
This means you!