Simon Peter went aboard and pulled the net to shore. It was full of large fish, one hundred fifty-three, but although there were so many, the net was not torn.

Many weird and wonderful attempts have been made to find special meaning in the number of fish in the net.

1. Jerome, for example, reported that ancient writers believed that there were 153 different species of fish in the net, thus symbolising all the nations of the world.
2. Augustine, noting that 153 is a ‘triangular’ number (the sum of the numbers from 17 downwards), then pointed out that 10 refers to the number of commandments, and 7 to the sevenfold Spirit of God.  The elect then (according to Augustine) are saved by grace and by keeping the commandments.
3. According to Cyril, 100 = the large number of Gentiles who were to be saved; 50 = the smaller number of Jewish people to be saved; and 3 = the Trinity, by whom they are all saved.
4. The medieval scholar Rupert of Deutz suggested that the number represents the fullness of the church: 100 represents the married, 50 the widows, and 3 the virgins.
5. A modern scholar has taken a similar line, linking this number with the feeding of 5,000 in John 6 (5 loaves of bread were taken and 12 baskets left over, 5 + 12 = 17).
6. Others give a numerical value to each letter, coming up with phrases such as “the church of love,” or “the children of God.”
7. Another interpretation reverses the usual numerical order, so that, in English Z would equal 1 and so on. On this basis, 153 would symbolise an abbreviation of Ichthus, which was an early Christian code for ‘Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour’.
8. Of course, the number 153 might have been recorded simply because that was the number of fish in the net!  This is the view of Hendriksen and Morris, among others.  (As a variation on this, it has been suggested that the exact number was given in order to emphasise the truthfulness of the account, since fishermen are prone to exaggerate!)

Barclay (DSB) discusses a number of these interpretations.

Ian Paul, lists a number of the options mentioned above (and a few others besides).  He outlines three principles for dealing with such numerological conundrums in the Bible:

1. Any claim must fit the data of the text itself.
2. The reading must have been a possible one for the original author and readers.
3. Any ‘deeper’ meaning must cohere with the ‘surface’ meaning of the text.  To this extent, they are similar to parables.

There are (Ian Paul notes) three large numbers mentioned in the NT – this one, the 276 people saved from shipwreck in Acts 27:37, and the 666 of Rev 13:18.  Curiously, each of these is a ‘triangular number’.  If for the present number of 153 the base number of 17 is significant, then it might indeed represent the whole of the known world.  On the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) a list of 17 regions is listed.

According to James B. Jordan:

In Ezekiel 47, we see baptismal waters flowing from the overturned Bronze Sea of the Temple, flowing out to the boundaries of the Land. Remember that Jesus claims to be the source of such living waters. In Ezekiel 47:9, we are told that “very many fish” will live in the (formerly) Dead Sea as a result of these living waters. In verse 10 we read, “And it will come about that fishermen will stand beside it; from En-Gedi to En-Eglaim there will be a place for spreading of nets. Their fish will be according to their kinds, like the fish of the Great [Mediterranean] Sea, very many.”

The Dead Sea is the boundary of the new land after the exile, and a place of contact with gentiles. The fishes are clearly gentile nations. The fact that the sea is formerly dead and now is brought to life surely indicates the influence of Restoration Israel over the nations before Christ, and points to the greater influence of the Kingdom after Pentecost.

Now, it is well known that Hebrew letters are also numbers: the first nine letters being 1-9, the next nine being 10-90, and the last five being 100-400. “Coding” words with numbers is called gematria. If we subtract the “En” from En-Gedi and En-Eglaim, since “en” means “spring,” then the following emerges:

Gedi = 17 (ג = 3; ד = 4; י = 10)

Eglaim = 153 (ע = 70; ג = 3; ל = 30; י = 10; מ = 40)

Again, this seems too close to the mark to be a coincidence. Once again, we have the number 17 (Gedi, mentioned first) and its relative 153 (Eglaim, mentioned second) connecting to the evangelization of the gentiles, symbolized by fishing.

Conclusion: The number 153 represents the totality of the nations of the world, which will be drawn in the New Creation.

Ian Paul (who cites the above from Jordan) favours both a ‘surface’, literal meaning, and also a ‘deeper’ symbolic meaning.  He concludes:

First, we just need to recognise that these texts are, in some important ways, strange to us, so we do need to enter into the world of the text with a sense of disciplined imagination.

Secondly, there is a good case, supported in multiple ways, for seeing the 153 as having both real and symbolic significance. I don’t see any reason to doubt that someone counted the number (fishermen would be in the habit of doing so, surely?) but like many other things in this gospel, the reality also has symbolic significance.

Thirdly, the connections with the number 17 at Pentecost, and the parallels in this episode with the commissioning of the disciples in the similar experience in Luke 5, do suggest that the symbolic significance has to do with gospel ministry which will draw on people from all over the world. This is a ‘hidden’ meaning which simply says the same thing as the narrative in Luke 5, though in a distinct way and using distinct language and symbolism.

Fourthly, this does make the meaning of the narrative strongly focussed on the theme of restoration and renewing commissioning, a theme that is reinforced in Jesus’ threefold restoration of Peter in the next pericope. The disciples are once again, beyond their failure and fear, being called to proclaim the good news about Jesus to all the world.