Joh 1:43-46 | Clarke | STEP | Verse 43 Philip - This apostle was a native of Bethsaida in Galilee. Eusebius says he was a married man, and had several daughters. Clemens Alexandrinus mentions it as a thing universally acknowledged that it was this apostle who, when commanded by our Lord to follow him, said, Let me first go and bury my father, , . Theodoret says he preached in the two Phrygias; and Eusebius says he was buried in Phrygia Pacatiana. He must not be confounded with Philip the deacon, spoken of .

John 1:43-46

Verse 43

Philip - This apostle was a native of Bethsaida in Galilee. Eusebius says he was a married man, and had several daughters. Clemens Alexandrinus mentions it as a thing universally acknowledged that it was this apostle who, when commanded by our Lord to follow him, said, Let me first go and bury my father, Mat 8:21, Mat 8:22. Theodoret says he preached in the two Phrygias; and Eusebius says he was buried in Phrygia Pacatiana. He must not be confounded with Philip the deacon, spoken of Act 6:5. Verse 45

Nathanael - This apostle is supposed to be the same with Bartholomew, which is very likely, for these reasons

1. That the evangelists who mention Bartholomew say nothing of Nathanael; and that St. John, who speaks of Nathanael, says nothing of Bartholomew.

2. No notice is taken any where of Bartholomew's vocation, unless his and that of Nathanael mentioned here be the same.

3. The name of Bartholomew is not a proper name; it signifies the son of Ptolomy; and Nathanael might have been his own name.

4. St. John seems to rank Nathanael with the apostles, when he says that Peter and Thomas, the two sons of Zebedee, Nathanael, and two other disciples, being gone a fishing, Jesus showed himself to them, Joh 21:2-4.

Moses in the law - See Gen 3:16; Gen 22:18; Gen 49:10; Deu 18:18.

And the prophets - See Isa 4:2; Isa 7:14; Isa 9:5; Isa 40:10; Isa 53:1, etc.; Jer 23:5; Jer 33:14, Jer 33:15; Eze 34:23; Eze 37:24; Dan 9:24; Mic 5:2; Zac 6:12; Zac 9:9; Zac 12:10. Verse 46

Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? - Bp. Pearce supposes that the τι αγαθον of the evangelist has some particular force in it: for, in Jer 33:14, God says, I will perform that good thing which I promised, etc.; and this, in Jer 33:15 is explained to mean, his causing the branch of righteousness (i.e. the Messiah) to grow up unto David, from whom Jesus was descended: in this view, Nathanael's question seems to imply, that not Nazareth, but Bethlehem, was to be the birth-place of the Messiah, according to what the chief priests and scribes had determined, Mat 2:4-6. If this conjecture be not thought solid, we may suppose that Nazareth, at this time, was become so abandoned that no good could be expected from any of those who dwelt in it, and that its wickedness had passed into a proverb: Can any thing good be found in Nazareth? Or, that the question is illiberal, and full of national prejudice.

Come and see - He who candidly examines the evidences of the religion of Christ will infallibly become a believer. No history ever published among men has so many external and internal proofs of authenticity as this has. A man should judge of nothing by first appearances, or human prejudices. Who are they who cry out, The Bible is a fable? Those who have never read it, or read it only with the fixed purpose to gainsay it. I once met with a person who professed to disbelieve every tittle of the New Testament, a chapter of which, he acknowledged, he had never read. I asked him, had he ever read the Old? He answered, No! And yet this man had the assurance to reject the whole as an imposture! God has mercy on those whose ignorance leads them to form prejudices against the truth; but he confounds those who take them up through envy and malice, and endeavor to communicate them to others.