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Luke 5 · a question people ask

Simon Peter said, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord" (5:8). Why did he ask Jesus to leave?

In the text

Luke gives Simon's words, and Simon gives a reason in them: "for I am a sinful man" (5:8). Luke's next sentence begins with For: "For he was amazed, and all who were with him, at the catch of fish which they had caught; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon" (5:9-10). Luke says no more about what Simon thought or felt, and these notes don't add to it. He tells what Jesus said: "Don’t be afraid. From now on you will be catching people alive." (5:10). Luke doesn't tell of Jesus leaving. He tells that "When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything, and followed him" (5:11).

The verses

“But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.” For he was amazed, and all who were with him, at the catch of fish which they had caught; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will be catching people alive.” When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything, and followed him.”
Luke 5:8-11 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Luke 5

Luke 5: At your word

At Jesus's knees, Simon Peter calls himself "a sinful man", and Jesus answers, "Don’t be afraid." The Greek word behind sinful comes back twice before Luke 5 ends: in the question of the scribes and the Pharisees, "Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?", and in Jesus's own "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

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Last reviewed October 1, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions