Bible Person
Meaning: the gift of God · Male · 6 cross references
Nathanael is the disciple from Cana whom Jesus praises as an Israelite without deceit. In John's Gospel he embodies honest openness that moves quickly from skepticism to profound confession. First appears in John 1:45.1
Name meaning
the gift of God
Identity
male
First appears
John 1:45
AI summary: Nathanael matters because the cross references present him as a model of transparent encounter with Jesus. He begins with doubt about Nazareth, yet once Jesus reveals supernatural knowledge of him, he responds with one of the Gospel's earliest strong confessions of Jesus' identity. His later presence by the sea in John 21 reinforces his continuing place among the disciples. Taken together, the material presents Nathanael as a sincere disciple whose candor becomes faith.1
Central Figure
Nathanael
Meaning: the gift of God
Given or gift of God, one of our Lord’s disciples, “of Cana in Galilee” (John 21:2).
Name meaning
the gift of God
Identity
male
Given or gift of God, one of our Lord’s disciples, “of Cana in Galilee” (John 21:2). He was “an Israelite indeed, in whom was no guile” (1:47, 48). His name occurs only in the Gospel of John, who in his list of the disciples never mentions Bartholomew, with whom he has consequently been identified. He was one of those to whom the Lord showed himself alive after his resurrection, at the Sea of Tiberias. 3
Source note: this 1893 dictionary language reflects its period and may be culturally insensitive or outdated. It is presented as historical source material, not as ai-BIBLE’s language, interpretation, or endorsement.
AI-assisted summary prepared for ai-BIBLE and stored as page content, based on dictionary material, person metadata, and linked Bible cross references.
Alistair de Blacquiere-Clarkson, “ai-BIBLE Bible Names JSON Factsheet Aggregating Material from Smith’s Bible Dictionary & Hitcocks’s New and Complete Analysis of the Bible.” ai-BIBLE electronic edition, version 1.0.
M.G.Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, ai-BIBLE electronic edition, version 1.0.
Robert Rouse, “Theographic Bible Information,” Theographic-Bible-Metadata, 2020, https://github.com/robertrouse/theographic-bible-metadata.