Ναθαναήλ

Ναθαναήλ — Nathanaḗl

Ναθαναήλ, ὁ (נְתַנְאֵל, gift of God), Nathanael, an intimate disciple of Jesus: Joh 1:45-49;. lie is commonly thought to be identical with Bartholomew, because as in Joh 1:45 he is associated with Philip, so in Mat 10:3; Mar 3:18; Luk 6:14 Bartholomew is; Nathanael, on this supposition, was his personal name, and Bartholomew a title derived from his father (see Βαρθολομαῖος). But in Act 1:13 Thomas is placed between Philip and Bartholomew; (see B. D. under the word ). Späth in the Zeitschr. f. wissensch. Theologie, 1868, pp. 168ff, 309ff (again 1880, pp. 78ff) acutely but vainly tries to prove that the name was formed by the Fourth Evangelist symbolically to designate 'the disciple whom Jesus loved' (see Ἰωάννης, 2).