Matthew 4:19

Back to the Realm of Mankind

The Greek ἁλιεῖς is a noun, and not a verb. The word ἁλιεύω is the verb "to fish" and is not used here. To express the traditional interpretation, one would expect οἱ ἀλιεύοντες "the ones who fish for" (Cf. Perseus ἀλιεύοντες)

"οἱ ἀλιεύοντες ἀνθρώπους" 

"those who fish for men"

Where ἀνθρώπους is in the accusative.

The traditional interpretation is a misnomer at best. The genitive "of" was craftily used in an accusative sense because in English the word "of" can sometime have an accusative sense. AI even knows this:

ἁλιεῖς ἀνθρώπων would not mean "fishers for men" in the grammatical sense. Here's why:

• • ἁλιεῖς is the nominative plural of ἁλιεύς, meaning "seaman/sailor/fisherman."
  • ἀνθρώπων is in the genitive plural, which generally indicates possession, origin, or association, rather than the direct object of an action.

In this construction, ἀνθρώπων would typically mean something like "of men" or "of people." 

However in English, "fishers of men" can have an accusative sense because the preposition "of" often corresponds to the genitive in Greek, but it can sometimes express a direct object relationship in English.

However, in Greek, ἀνθρώπων (genitive) would not directly translate to the same sense as an accusative would in English. The genitive here expresses "of men" or "belonging to men," which indicates a relationship of association rather than a direct object of the action (i.e., fishing for men).

To break it down:

• • ἁλιεῖς ἀνθρώπων: "Fishers of men" (genitive), meaning those who are fishers in association with men, or who fish in the realm of men. It has more of an abstract or metaphorical relationship with "men" rather than a direct action of fishing.
  • ἁλιεῖς ἀνθρώπους: "Fishers of men" (accusative), which is the more straightforward and grammatically correct way to express "those who fish for men."

While ἀνθρώπων can indeed imply a relationship that, in some contexts, could be understood in English as an accusative sense, Greek grammar would not use the genitive here to indicate a direct object of the action in the way English might allow.

So, if you want to keep the sense of "fishing for men," using the accusative (ἀνθρώπους) would be the best way to directly express that in Greek.

To express "fishers for men" or "those who fish for men," you'd need the accusative case, as in ἁλιεῖς ἀνθρώπους, where ἀνθρώπους is in the accusative and would be understood as the object of the verb ἀλιεύειν (to fish).

The Greek noun ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos) denotes a human being generically and can be used in both individual and collective senses. In the plural (e.g., ἄνθρωποι, ἀνθρώπων), it typically refers to humankind or people generally, in contrast to divine beings or animals (cf. Il. 5.442; Plato, Rep. 619b). It is distinct from ἀνήρ, which specifies an adult male. Though ἄνθρωπος may contextually carry a pejorative or ironic tone (e.g., in Attic oratory), its fundamental semantic range remains broadly inclusive of all human beings.