(-> breads, food, multiplications). The fish, which fill the sea (in the Biblical environment those from the river are less known; cf. as an exception Is 50,2 and Ex 7,18.21; Ez 29,4-5, which alludes to those from the Nile), have been created on the fifth day, the same as the birds of the air, with whom they are linked (cf. Gn 1,2023). They are under the domain of man, just like the other animals (cf. Gn 1,26). Some, those with fins and scales, can be eaten, both those from the sea and those from the river. Others, who walk through the water instead of swimming (of the type of shellfish), are impure (cf. Lv 11,9-12; Dt 14,9-10). The Israelites of the desert missed the fish of Egypt (Nm 11,5). The Phoenicians and inhabitants of the Mediterranean coast, in the hands of pagans, sold fish in Jerusalem (Neh 11,16), so that one of the gates of the city was called “gate of the fish” (Sof 1,10; Neh 3,3). Among the symbolic fish of the Old Testament, we must remember the great cetacean of Jonah* and the good fish of Tobias*, which serves to expel possessive demons, like Asmodeus, and cure diseases. The Bible has prohibited the worship of fish (cf. Ex 20,4; Dt 4,18). Linked in some way to the fish are the great sea monsters, against which Yahweh has fought to subdue them (cf. Tiamat, Tehom, Rahab, Leviathan). In the New Testament there are abundant references to fish and fishing, always in the lake of Galilee.
(1) Multiplication of loaves and fishes. The union of loaves and fishes in the multiplications constitutes one of the basic elements of the Galilean tradition, which has since been largely ignored by the Church, which has focused on the memory of the bread and wine of the Last Supper (Eucharist*) and has tended to overlook the food of loaves and fishes. The same account of the multiplications* of Mark (6,30-44 and 8,1-8), which has placed the loaves and fishes in parallel, has tended to emphasize the importance of the bread (cf. 6,37-38.44 and 8,1721). This process has culminated in the later Church, which has tended to forget the importance and meaning of fish, not only in the Eucharist, but in the same tradition of shared meals*. In this context it should be remembered that the bread and wine of the Supper lose their meaning if separated from the actual loaves and fish of the Church meal. It is significant that we speak of bread and fish, not bread and meat, which is due to the type of diet on the shore of Lake Galilee and perhaps also to the fact that land animals (lambs, bulls) they are linked to temple sacrifices and constitute a more expensive diet.
(2) Miraculous catch. All the fish in the world (Jn 21). Before shepherds *, Jesus has made his disciples “fishers” of men, understood therefore as fish, from the context of his previous work in the lake of Galilee (cf. Mk 1,16-18 par) . In this same context, a “miraculous catch” is spoken of, in which the missionary task of the later Church is symbolized (cf. Lk 5:1-11). The Gospel of John has expanded on that scene. The seven* Easter disciples have spent the night without achieving anything, but a stranger has told them to cast the net to the other side and they get a big catch, thus discovering that the stranger is Jesus and that he awaits them on the shore: “When they arrived On land they saw that an ember had been placed and on it a Fish and a Bread. Jesus said to them: Bring some of the fish that you have caught now! Pedro went up and dragged to the shore the net full of one hundred and fifty-three large fish; and being so many the network was not broken. And Jesus said to them: Come and eat! None of his disciples dared to ask him who are you, even though they knew it was Jesus. Jesus came, took the Bread and gave it to him and in a similar way the Fish” (Jn 21,9-14). The fishermen offer Jesus his missionary catch (153 large fish). Jesus, his own life (a bread and a roasted fish). The number of fish has given rise to various interpretations and evocations. St. Jerome, in his commentary on Ez 47,6-12, interpreted it zoologically: the wise men of his time knew one hundred and fifty-three kinds of fish; with them the Gospel would indicate the totality or universality of the Christian mission, addressed to all peoples (PL 25,474C), as the dragnet of Mt 13,47 seems to evoke. But most think that number refers more directly to the set of peoples on earth, who at that time were thought to number one hundred and fifty-three.
(3) Jesus fish. The disciples bring to Jesus the one hundred and fifty-three fish of the whole of humanity; Jesus offers his Bread and Fish roasted on the grill, that is, his own Easter life. Both the bread and the fish thus receive a Eucharistic character, they are a sign of Christ. Along these lines, within the Christian tradition the fish has become a sign of Jesus because of its connection with water and with the new birth and not only because of its character as food (like bread). Thus it is said that Christians are born of baptismal water, like fish: “We, little fish like our Fish Christ Jesus, are born in water and are saved by remaining in water” (Tertullian, De Baptismo 1). Also Clement of Alexandria (.Praed. III, 59,2) cites the fish as a Christian symbol: the newly baptized are fish that have been taken out of the water. Thus Saint Augustine says that “the roasted Fish is Christ sacrificed” (= Piscis assus, Cristus est passus; cf. In Joh 123, 2, commenting on Jn 21, 8-13). On the other hand, since the fourth century, the Greek name Icthys, fish, is understood as an acrostic of the formula of faith: Iesous Xristos Zeou Huios Soter (Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior). From this perspective, what the Church offers to (shares with) the hungry ends up being the sacred fish of faith in Christ, sometimes separated from the concrete loaves and fishes of the multiplications, which are at the root of the Gospel.
Cf. RM Fowler, Loaves and fishes. The Function of the Feeding Stories in the Cospel of Mark, Ann Arbor MI 1981.
PIKAZA, Javier, Dictionary of the Bible. History and Word, Divine Word, Navarra 2007
Source: Dictionary of Bible History and Word
God created the fish and other aquatic animals on the fifth creative day. (Ge 1: 20-23) Although man was not allowed to eat fish until after the Flood, he had them in subjection from the very beginning. (Ge 1:28; 9:2, 3) But instead of exercising proper dominion over animals, some men became “slippery” in their reasoning and came to worship the creation. (Ro 1:20-23) For example, the Babylonian water god (Ea) was represented as half man and half fish; Atargatis was a fish-shaped Syrian goddess; and in Egypt not only were certain kinds of fish held sacred, but some were even mummified. Of course, the worship of fish was prohibited in the law that God gave to Israel. (Deut 4:15-18.)
Jesus Christ, the “Son of man” (Mt 17:22), who was also to hold the fish in subjection, twice demonstrated his power by miraculously filling the nets of his apostles with fish. (Ps 8:4-8; Heb 2:5-9; Lu 5:4-7; Joh 21:6) He also demonstrated his mastery when, in response to the question of paying the temple tax, he said to Peter: “Go to the sea, cast the hook, and take the first fish that comes up and, opening its mouth, you will find a stater coin. He takes that one and give it to them for me and you †. (Mt 17:24-27.)
Fish as food. Fish, a highly nutritious and easily digestible food, must have formed an important part of the diet of the Egyptians and their Hebrew slaves, for the mixed multitude and the children of Israel yearned in the desert for the fish they used to eat in Egypt. (Nu 11:5) Thus, the Egyptian economy was greatly damaged when the Nile fish died as Jehovah turned the waters of Egypt into blood. (Ex 7:20, 21)
Fish continued to be an important food for the Israelites when they settled in the Promised Land. One of the gates of Jerusalem was called the “Fish Gate,” implying that a fish market was located there or nearby. (2Ch 33:14) As Nehemiah mentions, at a later time the Tyrians sold fish in Jerusalem, even on the Sabbath. (Ne 13:16)
This food used to be eaten with bread, well roasted, as was customary, or simply salted and dried. It is likely that the fish Jesus used to miraculously feed first 5,000 men and later 4,000—as well as women and children—were dried and salted fish. (Mt 14:17-21; 15:34-38) After his resurrection, Jesus ate some broiled fish to prove to his apostles that they were not seeing a spirit, and on another occasion he prepared a breakfast of bread and fish cooked on the grill (Lu 24:36-43; Joh 21:9-12)
The fish of Israel. With the exception of the Dead Sea, the inland waters of Palestine are abundant with fish. There you can find bream, carp, perch and other rare varieties, such as the Chromis simonis, which breeds in the mouth. The male of the Chromis simonis introduces the eggs—about two hundred—into his mouth, where the young remain for several weeks after hatching.
Some kinds of fish come to live in the salty springs near the Dead Sea, but die if brought into the Dead Sea itself. The cause is attributed to the high concentration of magnesium chloride in the Dead Sea. The rapid current of the Jordan—particularly in times of flooding—carries many fish to the Dead Sea, where, stunned, they are eaten by birds of prey, or their carcasses are washed up on the shore and devoured by carrion birds. . On the other hand, the prophet Ezekiel saw in vision a river flowing from Jehovah’s temple and healing the waters of the Dead Sea, giving rise to a flourishing fishing industry. (Eze 47:1, 8-10.)
Clean and unclean. Although King Solomon’s wisdom encompassed the field of natural history, including knowledge of fish (1Ki 4:33), not once is a specific class of fish mentioned by name in the Scriptures. However, the Law made a distinction between aquatic animals that were clean and those that were unclean. Only those with fins and scales would be cleaned for food, which ruled out catfish, eel, lamprey, skate, shark, and crustaceans, many of which feed on sewage and decaying matter, thus They often carry the bacteria that cause typhoid and paratyphoid fever. (Le 11:9-12) Therefore, the Israelite fishermen had to separate the fish that were suitable for consumption from those that were not, a point that is highlighted in Jesus’ illustration of the dragnet. (Mt 13:47, 48)
The fish that swallowed Jonah. Although the Son of God himself attested to the truth of the story about the “great fish” that swallowed Jonah, this incident is often cited to discredit the biblical record. (Mt 12:40) Of course, you have to have…