The Apostolic Age · AD 4–70
Nathanael of Cana
fl. c. AD 30 (death unrecorded) · Disciple · Called on the second day · Witness of the Resurrection appearance at Tiberias · Cana of Galilee
The Apostolic Age
Who Nathanael of Cana was
“God has given” — the name is Hebrew, and John names him twice. **Called on the second day**, by Philip, with the flattest possible objection: can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip does not argue, and answers *come and see*. What follows is the shortest route from scepticism to confession in the Gospels: Christ calls him an Israelite without guile, he asks how he is known, he is told he was seen under the fig tree, and he answers “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.”
He appears once more, at the end of the same Gospel: **“Nathanael of Cana in Galilee”**, one of the seven at the Sea of Tiberias when the risen Christ stands on the shore. It is the only place he is given a town.
**He and Bartholomew are held as two figures, and that is deliberate.** Since about the ninth century the two have commonly been identified — the reasoning being that Bar-Talmai is a patronymic and wants a personal name, that Nathanael appears in John where Bartholomew does not, and Bartholomew in the synoptic apostle-lists where Nathanael does not, and that John never lists the Twelve at all. It is a good argument and it is not evidence. This archive’s rule is that two names stay two figures unless the sources say otherwise, and no source before the ninth century says so. The identification is recorded on both pages.
Common questions
When was Nathanael active?
Nathanael of Cana is dated fl. c. AD 30 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places Nathanael in the Apostolic Age (AD 4–70). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Nathanael?
Nathanael of Cana is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from John. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Nathanael from?
The archive associates Nathanael of Cana with Cana of Galilee.
Who were Nathanael’s contemporaries?
The archive links Nathanael of Cana to 6 other figures, including Philip the Apostle, Bartholomew the Apostle, Simon Peter and Thomas the Apostle. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Scripture record
Primary-source mentions (2)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
John 1:45–49
c. AD 30Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.John · read ↗
John 21:2
c. AD 33There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.John · read ↗
Names proposed by later tradition
Nathanael = Bartholomew the Apostle
Commonly identified since about the ninth century: Bar-Talmai is a patronymic and wants a personal name; Nathanael appears in John where Bartholomew does not, and Bartholomew in the synoptic apostle-lists where Nathanael does not; and John never lists the Twelve. Possible but unprovable, and no source before the ninth century asserts it. Recorded, not adopted — the archive holds the two as separate figures.
Connected in the archive
People
- Philip the Apostle
- Bartholomew the Apostle
- Simon Peter
- Thomas the Apostle
- John the Apostle
- Jesus of Nazareth
Events in this lifetime
Place
Places served
The 2 places the sources put Nathanael, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.