---
title: John 21:6
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-21-6/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-21-6.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: John 21:6
testament: NT
section: Gospels
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# John 21:6

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> He told them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it there, and they were unable to haul it in because of the great number of fish.

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (2013 revision): "Cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find some."

## JW Usage

Witnesses normally read this miracle as a token of Jesus' care for the disciples and a foreshadowing of the worldwide preaching work — the right side of the boat as the right strategy under Jesus' direction. The verse is used pastorally rather than doctrinally; the Greek vocabulary is rarely flagged.

## Protestant Usage

The same verb that lands in John 6:44 — helkuō, "draw" — is the one used here in 21:6 (and 21:11) for hauling the net of fish to shore. When Jesus says "no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him" (6:44), helkuō does not describe a gentle invitation; it describes the kind of pulling that lands a heavy net. The same verb in John 12:32 ("I will draw all sorts of people to myself") and in Acts 16:19 (Paul and Silas "dragged" to the marketplace) confirms the force of the word. If the drawing in John 6:44 is universal *and* effectual, universalism follows. Since Jesus' own promise is effectual ("I will raise him up on the last day"), the drawing is particular and efficacious — exactly the pattern of the haul in 21:6.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [No One Comes Unless the Father Draws Him](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/john6-44-drawn-by-father.md) — John 6:44 — Salvation Is God's Initiative, Not Yours [Salvation]