45. Invenit Philippus Nathanaël, et dicit ei: Quem scripsit Moyses in lege, et prophetae, invenimus Iesum filium Ioseph a Nazareth.45. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith to him: We have found him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets did write, Jesus the son of Joseph of Nazareth.
46. Et dixit ei Nathanaël: A Nazareth potest aliquid boni esse? Dicit ei Philippus: Veni, et vide.46. And Nathanael said to him: Can anything of good come from Nazareth? Philip saith to him: Come and see.

45. Philip not only obeys the call to become a disciple himself, but brings another disciple with him to Jesus. Nathanael (= Deus dedit) was a native of Cana in Galilee (John xxi. 2), and is most probably identical with Bartholomew (= son of Tolmai) the Apostle, “For Nathanael and Philip are coupled in John i. 45, as Bartholomew and Philip are here (Matt. x. 3); Nathanael is named in the very midst of Apostles, John xxi. 2. ‘There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas, who is called Didymus, and Nathanael who was of Cana of Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee.’ Would anyone but an Apostle be so named? Finally, Matthew, Luke, and Mark do not allude to Nathanael, nor does John to Bartholomew” (M'Carthy on Matt. x. 3).

The son of Joseph. Doubtless, he means a son conceived and born in the ordinary way. So it was generally thought, and so thought Philip, ignorant of the miraculous conception of Christ, and of His birth at Bethlehem. It is absurd to charge our Evangelist, as De Wette has done, with ignorance of Christ's miraculous birth of a virgin, because he records the ignorance of Philip.

Nazareth, for ever famous as the scene of the incarnation, was a little town in Lower Galilee, in the tribal territory of Zabulon. It was the dwelling-place of our Lord during His private life. Nazareth, indeed all Galilee, was held in contempt (see John [vii. 52]), and hence Nathanael's doubt, (verse 46), though he was himself a Galilean (John xxi. 2).

47. Vidit Iesus Nathanaël venientem ad se, et dicit de eo; Ecce vere Israelita, in quo dolus non est.47. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and he saith of him: Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile.
48. Dicit ei Nathanaël: Unde me nosti? Respondit Iesus, et dixit ei: Priusquam te Philippus vocaret, cum esses sub ficu, vidi te.48. Nathanael saith to him: Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered, and said to him: Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee.
49. Respondit ei Nathanaël, et ait: Rabbi, tu es Filius Dei, tu es rex Israel.49. Nathanael answered him, and said: Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel.

47-49. When Nathanael had approached near enough to be able to hear what was said, but before he had spoken anything from which our Lord might have been thought to guess at his character, our Lord said: Behold an Israelite [pg 044]indeed, in whom there is no guile; that is to say, one who, not merely by descent, but by the simplicity and honesty of his character, is a true son of Jacob. See Gen. xxv. 27; Rom. ix. 6. Jacob's name was changed into Israel, after he wrestled with the angel, Gen. xxxii. 28.

47-49. Nathanael must have felt convinced that he had been hidden from Christ's natural view, otherwise he could not draw the inference which, aided by divine grace, he draws. Whether Nathanael yet recognised Jesus to be true God, and professed his belief in Him as such, in the words of verse 49, is disputed. If we are to judge from his words (ὁ υἱός), the affirmative opinion seems much more probable. The words are an echo of the Baptist's testimony (v. 34), but Nathanael confesses not alone Christ's Divine origin, but also His human sovereignty: Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel.

50. Respondit Iesus, et dixit ei: Quia dixi tibi: Vidi te sub ficu, credis: maius his videbis.50. Jesus answered and said to him: Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, thou believest: greater things than these shalt thou see.

50. Jesus promises Nathanael stronger arguments in proof of His Divinity. In the words: Greater things than these shalt thou see, the plural these seems to point to the class and not merely the special incident.

51. Et dicit ei: Amen, amen. dico vobis, videbitis coelum apertum, et Angelos Dei ascendentes, et descendentes supra Filium hominis.51. And he saith to him: Amen, amen, I say to you, you shall see the heaven opened, and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of man.