Charles Ellicott Commentary John 21:11

"Simon Peter therefore went up, and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, the net was not rent." — John 21:11 (ASV)

Simon Peter went up.—The better reading inserts “therefore”: Simon Peter therefore went up—that is, because of Christ’s command. He went up into the ship, now lying on the shore with one end of the net fastened to it, and drew the remainder of the net to the shore.

Full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three.—The greatness and the number are emphasized because in any ordinary haul of fish, a large proportion would be small and valueless, and be cast into the lake again (Compare to Matthew 13:47 and following). These were all “great,” and their size and number led to an exact account being taken of them. This would have been talked about among the Apostles and their friends and fellow fishermen, and is, with the picturesque exactness which is characteristic of St. John, recorded here.

We have no clue to any mystical interpretation of this number, and it is probably not intended to convey one. The various meanings which men have read into it, such as that it represents one of every kind of fish known to the natural history of the day; or that one hundred represents the Gentile nations, fifty the Jews, and three the Trinity; or that there is a reference to the 153,600 proselytes of 2 Chronicles 2:17; or that it expresses symbolically the name of Simon Peter, take their place among the eccentricities of exegesis from which even the latest results of criticism are not free.

Still, as all the more spiritual interpreters, from St. Augustine onward, have seen, the differences between this and the earlier miracle (Luke 5:1–11) are too striking to be unintentional. That represents the visible Church, containing good and bad; the net is cast without special direction as to side; the net was broken and many escaped. This represents God’s elect, foreknown by Him; all are good; the net is brought to shore, and none are lost. (See Notes on the parable of the Draw-net in Matthew 13:47-50, and compare especially Trench, Notes on Miracles, sections 3 and 33.)

Yet was not the net broken.—Compare Note on Luke 5:6. This is again one of the details which point to an eyewitness as the writer.