Jn 21:11 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.  Something similar is imagined by A. Naismith, in 1200 Scripture Outlines.
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.

Richard Bauckham devoted the last chapter of his book The Testimony of the Beloved Disciple to this question.

He highlights three numerical techniques of literary composition used in biblical and other literature:

• Calculating the numerical value of a word based on its Hebrew or Greek letters (gematria);
• Counting syllables of words;
• Counting the occurrences of a particular word in a literary work or a section thereof.

In John’s Gospel:

• The prologue (John 1.1–18) consists of 496 syllables. 496 is both a triangular number and a perfect number—and it is the numerical value of the Greek term monogenes (‘only’) in John 1.14 and John 1.18.
• The next section, from John 1.19 to John 2.11, consists of 1550 syllables, which is the value of the phrase ho Christos, (‘The Christ’).
• Jesus ‘high priestly prayer’ to the Father in John 17.1b–26 consists of 486 words, and 486 is the numerical value of pater (‘father’).
• The numerical value of ‘Jesus’ in Hebrew is the same as the numerical value of ‘Lamb of God’ in Hebrew, 391. So when John the Baptist proclaims ‘Behold, the Lamb of God!’ in John 1.29 and John 1.35–36, he is doing gematria with Jesus’ name.

Turning now to the number 153 in John 21, Bauckham observes:

The ending of John’s Gospel consists of two parts (Jn 20:30-31 and Jn 21:24-25) framing an epilogue (Jn 21:1-23).

The two parts each consist of 43 words.  The epilogue consists of 496 words

The epilogue corresponds in a number of ways to the prologue, which contains 496 syllables.  One of the key words – μονογενής – has a numerical value of 496.

The epilogue itself has two sections (Jn 21:1–14, 15–23), the first of which has 276 words.  Like 496, 276 is a triangular number.

As for the number 153 (Jn 21:11), this is also a triangular number.  One suggestion is that it is the numerical value of בני האלהים (children of God).  This would fit well, and suggests that if the theme of the prologue is christological, the theme of the epilogue is ecclesiological.

So:

‘The prologue tells of the unique Son of God who comes into the world so that those who believe in him may become “children of God” (1:12: τέκνα θεοῦ). The miraculous catch of 153 fish in the epilogue is a symbol of the ingathering of these children of God through the church’s mission, of which 11:52 (τὰ τέκνα τοῦ θεοῦ) also speaks.’

But why would the epilogue introduce a gematria based on a Hebrew, rather than a Greek, expression?  It is possible that a gematria based on the Greek would give rise to the implausibly high number of 860 fish, whereas the Hebrew yields the more realistic number 153.

But there might be another reason.  The number 153 is the triangle of 17.  Now, the numerical value of the two Hebrew names (גדי and עגלים) in Ezekiel 47:10 is 17 and 153 respectively.  Following Emerton, Bauckham explains:

‘The passage tells how the stream of water that will issue from the new temple will flow down to the Dead Sea, turning it into a fresh water lake, where people will stand on the shore fishing all the way from the spring of Gedi (En-gedi) to the spring of Eglaim (En-eglaim): “It will be a place for the spreading of nets; its fish will be of a great many kinds” (Ezek. 47:10).’

Bauckham further observes that the word Gedi (גדי) in Eze 47:10 is the 153rd word in the chapter.

In gematria, words that have the same numerical values are often thought to be linked to each other in some way.  Since Eglaim and ‘children of God’ have the same number (153) the author of John 21 could take the one to signify the other.  Thus the 153 fish represent the ‘children of God’.

As for the word ‘gedi’, it is probably linked to a word with the same numerical value of 17.  That word is ‘sacrifice’.

‘The new life symbolized by the river of Ezekiel 47, which makes people children of God, has its source in the temple, the place of sacrifice.’

Consider now the first part of the Epilogue of John’s Gospel – Jn 20:30-31.  The four key words here are ‘sign’, ‘believe’, ‘Christ’, ‘life’.  In Greek, these are, with their numerical values, σημεῖον 17, πιστεύειν 98, Χριστός 19, ζωή 36.  The numerical value of the first speaks for itself.  The combined numerical value of the other three is 153.

Bauckham concludes that the point of the catch of 153 fish is to symbolise the church’s mission people to faith in Christ and to new life as children of God.  The signs (number 17) have the purpose of bringing many to faith in Christ (number 153 – the triangle of 17).

Understood like this, the epilogue need not be read as a rather unexpected and unrelated appendix to the Gospel, but rather as its conclusion and culmination.

What about the Beloved Disciple himself?  It seems that he left his numerical signature in his work.  The name ‘John’ has a numerical value, in Hebrew, of 129.  The 129th word from the beginning of the epilogue is the first word of the phrase ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’ (21:7).  If we continue to count sections of 129 words each, then the fourth such section ends with the last word of 21:24, which concludes the last statement about the Beloved Disciple.

Something similar may be observed with Peter (numerical value of 466 in Hebrew).  The 466th word of chapter 21 concludes Jesus’ words to Peter and signals the end of the Gospel’s account of Peter.

It is fitting that the Fourth Gospel should close with a symbolic representation of the church’s mission, along with a symbolic representation of the two disciples who are most prominent in it – Peter, the chief undershepherd of Christ’s flock, and John, the most perceptive witness to Christ.  Their witness to Jesus is enshrined symbolically as follows:

‘The section 21:1–14 consists…of 276 words. The two central words (the 138th and 139th) of this section are the beloved disciple’s own words of witness to Jesus: ὁ κύριος (21:7). Moreover, 276 is the “triangle” of 23. If we multiply this “triangular root” (23) of the length of the section by the “triangular root” (17) of the triangular number that occurs within the section (153), the sum is 391. This is the numerical value of the name Jesus in Hebrew (יהושׁע), a significant instance of gematria that already…underlies the text of the Gospel in 1:29, 35–36; 19:15–36.’