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 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.)