ἄγρα refers to a “catch,” appearing in Luke 5 within the scene of Simon and his companions lowering nets at Jesus’ direction. In these two verses it names both the expected outcome of the action (“for a catch”) and the astonishing result (“the catch of fish”).
Root and Related Words
ἄγρα (Agra) is related to the verb ἄγω (ago), “to bring” (Strong’s G71). This relationship frames the noun in terms of what is brought in or gathered as the result of an action.
Occurrences
“When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch.”” (Luke 5:4)
Here ἄγρα stands at the endpoint of a string of practical commands: “Put out into the deep” and “let down your nets.” The noun names the purpose for which the nets are lowered—nets are not merely deployed or adjusted; they are let down “for a catch.” In the wording of the verse, ἄγρα functions as a concrete goal that gives direction to the action: going into deep water and lowering nets is oriented toward obtaining something. Within this brief instruction, the word gathers the whole fishing enterprise into a single, compact result-term: the catch is what the effort seeks to produce.
Because the instruction is given immediately after Jesus “had finished speaking,” ἄγρα also helps the narrative pivot from teaching to work. The scene moves from words to labor, and the noun names the tangible outcome expected from that labor. The verse does not yet describe success, quantity, or surprise; it simply introduces the intended result as part of the command. In that sense, ἄγρα is forward-looking: it points ahead to what will come from letting down the nets.
“For he was amazed, and all who were with him, at the catch of fish which they had caught;” (Luke 5:9)
In this second occurrence, ἄγρα is no longer the aim of the work but the reality that provokes a response. The verse highlights amazement—“he was amazed, and all who were with him”—and anchors that amazement “at the catch of fish.” The noun now serves as the focal point for the reaction of the whole group. It is not only Simon who is affected; the wording widens the circle to “all who were with him,” and ἄγρα becomes the shared object of their astonishment.
The phrase “the catch of fish which they had caught” explicitly ties the noun to what has been taken in from the water. Luke’s wording doubles down on the idea by pairing the noun with the act of catching (“which they had caught”), portraying ἄγρα as the concrete harvest from their net-lowering. In context, the emphasis is not on the mechanics of fishing but on the magnitude or impressiveness implied by their amazement. ἄγρα marks the moment when expectation (a catch hoped for) becomes a realized outcome that overwhelms the witnesses. The noun therefore carries narrative weight: it names the result that turns an ordinary work scene into an event that stuns experienced participants.
Sense and Usage
Across Luke 5:4 and 5:9, ἄγρα is used with a stable, literal sense: a catch obtained through fishing. The first use places the catch in the realm of intention—something sought by the deliberate act of letting down nets in deep water. The second use places it in the realm of experience—something seen and possessed, significant enough to create amazement among multiple observers. Taken together, the two verses show ἄγρα as a result-word: it gathers up the labor, skill, and effort implied by “nets,” “deep,” and “caught” and presents the outcome as a single item that can be aimed at and then marveled at.
Because ἄγρα appears once in an instruction and once in an explanatory comment (“For he was amazed…”), it also functions differently at the level of storytelling. In Luke 5:4 it is part of direct speech, a concise target embedded in an imperative; in Luke 5:9 it is part of narration that interprets the human response to what has happened. The same noun, therefore, bridges two modes: command and commentary. This gives the catch a kind of narrative continuity—first named as the purpose of the action, then named as the reason for amazement.
The immediate collocation in Luke 5:9—“catch of fish”—makes explicit what is only implied by “nets” in Luke 5:4. The noun is thus flexible enough to be understood from context (“nets for a catch”) and also to be specified when needed (“catch of fish”). In both cases it remains a concrete referent: something gathered, held, and pointed to as the outcome of work on the water.
Within these two verses, ἄγρα also highlights the gap between routine expectation and extraordinary result. A catch is a normal aim of lowering nets, but the amazement described in Luke 5:9 signals that this particular ἄγρα is not perceived as ordinary by the people present. Luke does not need additional adjectives here; the reaction of those who see it supplies the evaluation. The noun itself remains plain, while the narrative reaction elevates its significance. In this way ἄγρα can carry an understated force: a common term for a common activity becomes the hinge of astonishment because of the outcome it names.
Imagery in Luke 5
The imagery bound up with ἄγρα in these passages is tactile and immediate: deep water, nets being lowered, and fish brought in as a catch. Luke 5:4 presents the moment before the result, when the command sets the fishermen’s work toward a definite end; Luke 5:9 presents the moment after the result, when the catch stands before them as a visible reason for amazement shared by all present. In both, ἄγρα concentrates the scene into a single, graspable outcome—the gathered take that turns effort on the water into something that can be recognized and reacted to.
Sources:
Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).
