St. Peter's Fish?

Matthew 17:27 "Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you." I learned something interesting about this Scripture... thought it was interesting, so I decided to share it with you all... Grant Jeffrey gives some interesting information about this type of fish:

This species of fish belongs to the Cichlidae family and flourishes in this warm freshwater sea. St. Peter's Fish is occasionally called the "mouth breeder." It is found naturally in only three places, all of which lie along the geological zone extending from the Sea of Galilee thousands of miles to the south in Lake Victoria, Uganda....

Dr. Jim Fleming, a professor of archaeology and historical geography at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, has taught about the unusual nature of this fish in connection with Matthew 17:24­27. The female St. Peter's Fish carries her eggs in her mouth to protect them against predators until they hatch. As the brood of minnows begins to grow, she opens her mouth to let them out to swim around her from time to time. However, the mother fish opens her mouth again and quickly scoops them up whenever danger is present. The mother will fast almost to the point of starvation to avoid the danger of inadvertently swallowing her young offspring. On account of her well-known maternal habits, the fishermen of Galilee call the female St. Peter's fish by the Hebrew name "The Mother-Fish." After the young mature to the point where they can survive independently, they swim away. However, the mother fish often keeps a substitute in her mouth to perpetuate her habit of carrying her young. St. Peter's Fish are sometimes caught by fishermen and when they examine their mouths they find pebbles or coke bottle caps inside. The popular name for the fish is "St. Peter's fish" because of the account in Matthew 17:24-­27 about Peter catching a fish that carried a shekel coin in its mouth. This habit of the fish to pick up items from the lake bottom in no way minimizes the miracle of our Lord. Only the Son of God could have known that this particular fish would be carrying a shekel coin in its mouth.

Apparently, it is also a common dish in the region...

Comments

  1. The Other AliceTuesday, September 22, 2009 at 7:56:00 PM EDT

    WOW! I didn't know that before; that is interesting!
    Oh, hey, I hope they check the fish's mouth before they start eating it...

    ReplyDelete
  2. RebeccaWednesday, September 23, 2009 at 11:37:00 AM EDT

    THAT is totally amazing!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ed de BlieckSunday, September 27, 2009 at 8:57:00 PM EDT

    I've been thinking about this passage over at http://caughtnottaught.blogspot.com/2009/09/matthew-17-24-27.html

    Kindly,

    ED.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownFriday, June 21, 2013 at 12:33:00 PM EDT

    I love this!!!! Not only does it show us the LORDS awesomeness. It shows us that our CREATOR has created everything for a time and place..( Such as this )

    ReplyDelete

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