John 1:45-51

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. John 1:45 sn Nathanael is traditionally identified with Bartholomew (although John never describes him as such). He appears here after Philip; 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. Other alternatives than Bartholomew have also been suggested, e.g. James the son of Alphaeus; see C. E. Hill, “The Identity of John’s Nathanael,” JSNT 20 (1998): 45-61.
2. John 1:45 tn “Also” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.
3. John 1:46 tn Grk “And Nathanael.”
4. John 1:46 tn Grk “said to him.”
5. John 1:46 sn Can anything good come out of Nazareth? may be a local proverb expressing jealousy among the towns.
6. John 1:46 tn Grk “And Philip said to him.”
7. John 1:47 tn Grk “said about him.”
8. John 1:47 tn Or “treachery.”sn An allusion to Ps 32:2.
9. John 1:48 tn Grk “answered and said to him.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation to “replied.”
10. John 1:48 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.)
11. John 1:49 tn Although βασιλεύς (basileus) lacks the article it is definite due to contextual and syntactical considerations. See ExSyn 263.
12. John 1:49 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.
13. John 1:50 tn Grk “answered and said to him.” This has been simplified in the translation to “said to him.”
14. John 1:50 sn What are the greater things Jesus had in mind? In the narrative this forms an excellent foreshadowing of the miraculous signs which began at Cana of Galilee.
15. John 1:51 tn Grk “and he said to him.”
16. John 1:51 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
17. John 1:51 sn The title Son of Man appears 13 times in John’s Gospel. It is associated especially with the themes of crucifixion (3:14; 8:28), revelation (6:27; 6:53), and eschatological authority (5:27; 9:35). The title as used in John’s Gospel has for its background the son of man figure who appears in Dan 7:13-14 and is granted universal regal authority. Thus for the author, the emphasis in this title is not on Jesus’ humanity, but on his heavenly origin and divine authority.