Bartholomew

Biblical Record

Bartholomew was one of the Twelve Disciples. His name appears only in the lists of the disciples: Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:14, and Acts 1:13. No passage records any words or deeds of his. In the lists of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), he is always placed immediately after Philip. The name is generally understood to mean "son of Talmai" in Aramaic, and it is therefore widely regarded as a patronymic rather than a personal name.

Bartholomew does not appear in the Gospel of John, which instead mentions Nathanael. When Philip told him about Jesus, Nathanael replied, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip answered, "Come and see" (John 1:45–46). Jesus called him "an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile," and said that He had seen him under the fig tree. Nathanael then confessed Jesus as the Son of God and the King of Israel (John 1:47–49). Jesus told him that he would see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man (John 1:51). After the resurrection, "Nathanael of Cana in Galilee" is also among the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias (John 21:2).

Significance Within Scripture

The Nathanael narrative is one of the scenes at the opening of John's Gospel in which the disciples meet Jesus and come to understand who He is. The saying in John 1:51 recalls the vision of Jacob's Ladder that Jacob saw at Bethel (Genesis 28:12), and it is therefore commonly interpreted as showing that Jesus is the one who connects heaven and earth.

Interpretation and Debate

The tradition identifying Bartholomew with Nathanael was widely accepted in the Western church. The following points are cited in its support:

• The Synoptic Gospels do not mention Nathanael, and the Gospel of John does not mention Bartholomew.
• Because Bartholomew is a patronymic, he may have had another personal name.
• In the Synoptic lists Bartholomew is paired with Philip, and in John's Gospel it is Philip who brings Nathanael to Jesus.
• In John 21:2 Nathanael appears together with other disciples.

Scripture, however, does not directly state that the two are the same person. Some therefore point out that the identification is merely an inference, and others regard Nathanael as a disciple outside the Twelve.

Accounts of his later activity rely on extrabiblical tradition. The fourth-century church historian Eusebius relates a report that Pantaenus found in India a Hebrew Gospel of Matthew left there by Bartholomew. The Armenian Apostolic Church regards him, together with Thaddeus, as one of the apostles who founded that church. A tradition that he was martyred in Armenia by being flayed alive is also widely known. None of these accounts appears in the biblical text. In Korean Catholic usage his name is rendered "Bareutollomeo," and in Western church tradition his feast is observed on August 24.

In the Korean Church

In Korean Protestantism, the Nathanael narrative of John 1 receives more attention than the name Bartholomew. Philip's "Come and see" is frequently cited as a model of evangelism, and Nathanael's progression from doubt to confession is often preached as the story of a skeptic who meets Jesus and comes to faith.