Is the number of fish mentioned in John 21:11 symbolic?
This text is from a letter written by David Gooding in 1982.
Editor's note: The correspondent proposed that 153, through gematria, stands for 'Israel' but spelled differently as a code alternative for the usual spelling, perhaps in the Boeotian dialect. Thus the catch of 153 large fish would represent Peter drawing repentant Israel from darkness into light, which the correspondent says reflects the theme of John's gospel being the redemption of Israel.
The number of fish referred to in John 21:11 has certainly excited undying interest over the centuries and continues to do so to this day. Your own suggestion is interesting, though I have to add that the difficulty with it, as with all other suggestions which are based on the argument that the number is symbolic, is that it is unprovable—at least in the present state of our knowledge.
The spelling ISDRAHL mentioned by P. Walters in his book The Text of the Septuagint (pp. 88–89) is, of course, a scribal misspelling, and I find it difficult to think that the number 153 goes back to a deliberate misspelling in the original manuscript. I should also think it somewhat unlikely that John would have used the Boeotian dialect. The supporting arguments which you raise from the interpretation of other parts of the Gospel are interesting, but it seems to me that they are only likely to be true if your original suggestion about the number of fish is itself true. These other arguments might fit in with your original suggestion, but they do not prove it.
You will, of course, be aware of the many other suggestions that have been made and summarized in the recent commentaries. Perhaps the most useful recent summaries are to be found in the commentaries by Barnabas Lindars (Oliphants) and P. E. Brown (Anchor Bible).
I must say that, when the symbolic interpretation is so controverted, the solution which seems to me to involve the least difficulty is that which understands the number literally.
Yours sincerely,
