Bartholomew

Bartholomew is listed among the Twelve in all four apostle lists (Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:14, Acts 1:13) but is never mentioned elsewhere in the Synoptic Gospels. He is generally identified with Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, who appears in the Gospel of John. The identification rests on the fact that Bartholomew and Philip are always listed together in the Synoptics, while in John it is Philip who brings Nathanael to Jesus. When Philip told Nathanael about Jesus of Nazareth, Nathanael famously asked: "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46). Upon meeting Jesus, Nathanael was told: "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" When Nathanael asked how Jesus knew him, Jesus replied: "Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee." Nathanael responded with one of the earliest confessions: "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel" (John 1:47-49).