John 1:46. Εὑρίσκει] when and where in the course of the journey we are not told,—perhaps at some distance from the road, so that Philip, observing him, quitted the road, and went towards him. According to Ewald, “not till after their arrival in the village of Cana, which nevertheless is named for the first time in John 2:1, and to which Nathanael belonged” (John 21:2). The supposition, however, that Nathanael was on his way to John’s baptism (Godet) is quite groundless.

Ναθαναήλ, נְתַנְאֵל, i.e. Theodorus (Numbers 1:8; 1 Chronicles 2:14), is identical with Bartholomaeus. For, according to this passage, in the midst of calls to the apostleship, comp. John 21:2, he appears as one of the twelve; while in the lists of the apostles (Matthew 10:3; Luke 6:14; Mark 1:18; Acts 1:13), where his name is wanting, we find Bartholomaeus, and placed, moreover, side by side with Philip (only in Acts 1:13 with Matthew;[124] comp. Constitt. Apol. vi. 14. 1). This identity is all the more probable, because Bartholomew is only a patronymic, and must have become the ordinary name of the individual, and that in most frequent use; and thus it came to pass that his own distinctive name does not appear in the synoptic narrative.

ὃν ἔγραψε] of whom, etc. See on Romans 10:5Μωϋσῆς] Deuteronomy 18:15, and generally in his Messianic references and types. See on John 1:46.

ΤῸΝ ἈΠῸ ΝΑΖΑΡΈΤ] for Nazareth, where Jesus had lived with His parents from infancy upwards, passed for His birth-place. Philip may have obtained his knowledge from Andrew and Peter, or even from Jesus Himself, who had no occasion at this time to state more fully and minutely his relation to Nazareth; while the τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ Ἰωσήφ, which must rest upon a communication from Jesus, leaves His divine Sonship undisturbed. To attribute to Philip knowledge of the facts of the case with regard to both points (Hengstenberg) is in itself improbable, and is not in keeping with the simplicity of his words. But it is a groundless assumption to suppose that John knew nothing of the birth at Bethlehem; for it is Philip’s own words that he records (against Strauss, De Wette). See on John 7:41.

[124] Hilgenfeld regarded him as identical with Matthew; but how much opposed is this view to the history of Matthew’s call! though the meaning of his name is not different from that of Matthew’s. Very recently, however, Hilgenfeld has supposed that the name answers to the Matthias who was appointed in the place of Judas (N. T. extra canon. IV. p. 105). Schleiermacher, L. J. p. 368, considers it very doubtful whether Nathanael belonged to the twelve at all. Chrysostom, Augustine, and others, long ago denied that he did, but this is already assumed in the “duae viae” (Hilgenfeld, N. T. extra canon. IV.). According to Spaeth, in Hilgenfeld’s Zeitschrift, 1868, p. 168 ff., Nathanael is to be taken as a symbolical name, invented by the writer, under which the Apostle John himself is said to be represented. The author of the Appendix, chap. John 21:2, where Nathanael is expressly distinguished from the sons of Zebedee, is said to have made a mistake.

John 1:46. εὑρίσκει … Ναζαρέτ. Philip in turn finds Nathanael, probably on the road from the Bethany ford homewards. Nathanael is probably the same person as is spoken of in the Synoptical Gospels as Bartholomew, i.e., Bar Tolmai, son of Ptolemy. This is usually inferred from the following: (1) Both here and in chap. John 21:2 he is classed with apostles; (2) in the lists of apostles given in the Synoptical Gospels Bartholomew is coupled with Philip; (3) while Nathanael is never mentioned by the Synoptists, Bartholomew is not mentioned by John. The two names might quite well belong to one man, Bartholomew being a patronymic. Nathanael means “God’s gift,” Theodore, or, like Augustine’s son, Adeodatus. Philip announces the discovery in the words ὃν ἔγραψεν … Ναζαρέτ. On which Calvin remarks: “Quam tenuis fuerit modulus fidei in Philippo hinc patet, quod de Christo quatuor verba profari nequit, quin duos crassos errores permisceat. Facit ilium filium Joseph, et patriam Nazareth falso illi assignat.” This is too stringent. He draws the conclusion that where there is a sincere purpose to do good and to proclaim Christ, success will follow even where there is error. Nazareth lies due west from the south end of the Sea of Galilee, and about midway between it and the Mediterranean.

46. Can there any good thing, &c.] All Galileans were despised for their want of culture, their rude dialect, and contact with Gentiles. They were to the Jews what Bœotians were to the Athenians. But here it is a Galilean who reproaches Nazareth in particular. Apart from the Gospels we know nothing to the discredit of Nazareth; neither in O.T. nor in Josephus is it mentioned; but what we are told of the people by the Evangelists is mostly bad. Christ left them and preferred to dwell at Capernaum (Matthew 4:13); He could do very little among them, ‘because of their unbelief’ (Matthew 13:58), which was such as to make Him marvel (Mark 6:6); and once they tried to kill Him (Luke 4:29). S. Augustine would omit the question. Nathanael ‘who knew the Scriptures excellently well, when he heard the name Nazareth, was filled with hope, and said, From Nazareth something good can come.’ But this is not probable. Possibly he meant no more than ‘Can any good thing come out of despised Galilee?’ Nazareth being in Galilee.

Come and see] The best cure for ill-founded prejudice. Philip shews the depth of his own conviction in suggesting this test, which seems to have been in harmony with the practical bent of his own mind. See on John 12:21 and John 14:8.

John 1:46. Δύναταί τι) can anything? Therefore there were many worthless characters. Comp. as to that whole region, ch. John 7:52, “Search and look; for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet” [the Pharisees to Nicodemus]. Nathanael’s question is however more modest and cautious, than if he categorically denied [that anything good could come from Galilee]. Christ did not owe His excellency to His native land on earth [His excellency was not to be set down to the account of His earthly country]. He came from heaven.—ἀγαθόν, good) But how great a Good, Christ! ch. John 7:12, “Some said, He is a good man.”—ἔρχου καὶ ἴδε, come and see) The best remedy against preconceived opinions. What Jesus the day before had replied to the disciples [John 1:39], “Come and see”: that now Philip replies to others, Ἴδε, see, i.e. you will see. Often an imperative after an imperative has the force of a future; Genesis 17:1, “Walk before Me, and be thou perfect”= and thus thou shall be, Amos 5:4, “Seek ye Me and ye shall live.” See Glass. Phil. Can. xliii, de Verbo.

Verses 46-49. -

(c) The Son of God and King of Israel. Verse 46. - And Nathanael said to him, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? The ordinary interpretations of the meaning of this question are not satisfactory.

(1) The prejudice against Nazareth as being a Galilean town cannot have weighed with Nathanael of Cana in Galilee (John 21:2), even though he may have shared the ignorant opinion that "out of Galilee ariseth no prophet" (John 7:52). He might have known that Jonah, Hosea, Nahum, probably Elijah, Elisha, and Amos, were Galileans.

(2) That Nazareth was a secluded and contemptible village seems disproved by the interesting papers of Dr. Selah Merrill, on "Galilee in the Time of our Lord," Amer. Bibl. Sacra., January and April, 1874.

(3) That the character of its people should have been jealous, turbulent, capricious, and led to our Lord's subsequent preference for Capernaum, does not explain the force of the inquiry. The "good thing" may, however, be the contrast between the unimportance of the place in the political or religious history of the people, as compared with Jerusalem, Tiberias, Jericho, Bethlehem. It is never mentioned in the Old Testament or in Josephus. Nathanael may have known its mediocrity, and have been startled by the possibility of a carpenter's son, in a spot utterly undistinguished, being the Messiah of whom their sacred writers spoke. "Despised Nazareth" is a phrase rather due to the splendour of the flower that grew upon its barren soil, and became contrasted afterwards with the unlooked for glory and claims of the Nazarene. Philip saith unto him, Come and see. This was his strongest argument. To look upon him is to believe. He had much more to learn in after days (John 14:8, 9). At this moment he and Nathanael stood on ground consecrated by ancient history, and thrilling with the thunder peals of the Baptist, mazed and wistful from much longing, thinking of the union between heaven and earth which had been revealed in the experience of ancient prophets, dwelling on the careers of Israel, Moses, and Elijah in their rapt transports, musing under fig trees or the like, and longing for the great King. He may naturally have reasoned on this wise: "Can it be true that the Christ, the King of Israel, the Lord of the temple, the Baptizer with the Holy Ghost, is indistinguishable from the rest of mankind in this very crowd? Would that I too might see in him, as John has done, some vision of the opened heaven, that I too might hear some unmistakable voice!" If these were the musings of Nathanael - and surely there is not a trace of unreason in such meditations in the breast of a disciple of the Baptist - the conversation which follows is more easy to understand. John 1:46Come out of Nazareth (ἐκ Ναζαρὲτ εἶναι)

Literally, "be out of;" a characteristic expression of John. See John 3:31; John 4:22; John 7:17, John 7:22; John 8:23; John 15:19; John 18:36, John 18:38, etc. It means more than to come out of: rather to come out of as that which is of; to be identified with something so as to come forth bearing its impress, moral or otherwise. See especially John 3:31 : "He that is of the earth is of the earth;" i.e., partakes of its quality. Compare Christ's words to Nicodemus (John 3:6), and 1 Corinthians 15:47.

In the Greek order, out of Nazareth stands first in the sentence as expressing the prominent thought in Nathanael's mind, surprise that Jesus should have come from Nazareth, a poor village, even the name of which does not occur in the Old Testament. Contrary to the popular explanation, there is no evidence that Nazareth was worse than other places, beyond the fact of the violence offered to Jesus by its people (Luke 4:28, Luke 4:29), and their obstinate unbelief in Him (Matthew 13:58; Mark 6:6). It was a proverb, however, that no prophet was to come from Galilee (John 7:52).

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