Bartholomäus

Who is Bartholomäus?

Nathanael is a disciple of Jesus, mentioned only in the Gospel of John Chapter 1 and Chapter 21.

In the Gospel of John, Nathanael is introduced as a friend of Philip. He is described as initially being skeptical about the Messiah coming from Nazareth, saying: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?", but nonetheless, follows Philip's invitation. Jesus immediately characterizes him as "Here is a man in whom there is no deception." Some scholars hold that Jesus' quote "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you", is based on a Jewish figure of speech referring to studying the Torah. Nathanael recognizes Jesus as "the Son of God" and "the King of Israel".

He reappears at the end of John's gospel as one of the disciples to whom Jesus appeared at the Sea of Galilee after the Resurrection.

Nathanael is often assumed to be the same as Bartholomew the Apostle.