1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and exclaimed, 1 “Look, a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” 2 1:48 Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” Jesus replied, 3 “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, 4 I saw you.” 1:49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king 5 of Israel!” 6
1 tn Grk “said about him.”
2 tn Or “treachery.”
sn An allusion to Ps 32:2.
3 tn Grk “answered and said to him.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation to “replied.”
4 sn Many have speculated about what Nathanael was doing under the fig tree. Meditating on the Messiah who was to come? A good possibility, since the fig tree was used as shade for teaching or studying by the later rabbis (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 5:11). Also, the fig tree was symbolic for messianic peace and plenty (Mic 4:4, Zech 3:10.)
5 tn Although βασιλεύς (basileus) lacks the article it is definite due to contextual and syntactical considerations. See ExSyn 263.
6 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.