1 sn Nathanael is traditionally identified with Bartholomew (although John never describes him as such). He appears here after Philip, while in all lists of the twelve except in Acts 1:13, Bartholomew follows Philip. Also, the Aramaic Bar-tolmai means “son of Tolmai,” the surname; the man almost certainly had another name.
2 tn “Also” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.
3 tn Grk “And Nathanael.”
4 tn Grk “said to him.”
5 sn Can anything good come out of Nazareth? may be a local proverb expressing jealousy among the towns.
map For location see Map1-D3; Map2-C2; Map3-D5; Map4-C1; Map5-G3.
6 tn Grk “And Philip said to him.”
7 tn Although βασιλεύς (basileus) lacks the article it is definite due to contextual and syntactical considerations. See ExSyn 263.
8 sn Nathanael’s confession – You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel – is best understood as a confession of Jesus’ messiahship. It has strong allusions to Ps 2:6-7, a well-known messianic psalm. What Nathanael’s exact understanding was at this point is hard to determine, but “son of God” was a designation for the Davidic king in the OT, and Nathanael parallels it with King of Israel here.