John 1:46

And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. AND NATHANAEL SAID UNTO HIM, CAN THERE ANY GOOD THING COME OUT OF NAZARETH? Bethlehem, he perhaps remembered, was Messiah's predicted birthplace: Nazareth as a town had no place in prophecy, nor in the Old Testament at all. But its proverbial ill-repute may have been what directly suggested the doubt whether that could possibly be the place, of all places, whence Messiah was to issue. PHILIP SAITH UNTO HIM, COME AND SEE. Noble remedy against pre-conceived opinions! exclaims Bengel. Philip, though probably unable to solve the difficulty, could show him where to get rid of it; and Nathanael takes his advice. See the note at ....

46._Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? _At first, _Nathanael _refuses, the place of Christ’s nativity (as described by _Philip_) having given him offense. But, first of all, he is deceived by the inconsiderate discourse of _Philip; _for what _Philip _foolishly believed _Nathanael _receives as certain. Next, there is added a foolish judgment arising from hatred or contempt of the place. Both of these points ought to be carefully observed by us. This holy man was not far from shutting out against himself all approach to Christ. Why was this? Because he rashly believes what Philip spoke incorrectly about Christ; and next, because his mind was under the influence of a preconceived opinion that _no good thing could come out of Nazareth_. If then we are not carefully on our guard, we shall be liable to the same danger; and Satan labors every day, by similar obstacles, to hinder us from c...

43-51 See the nature of true Christianity, it is following Jesus; devoting ourselves to him, and treading in his steps. Observe the objection Nathanael made. All who desire to profit by the word of God, must beware of prejudices against places, or denominations of men. They should examine for themselves, and they will sometimes find good where they looked for none. Many people are kept from the ways of religion by the unreasonable prejudices they conceive. The best way to remove false notions of religion, is to make trial of it. In Nathanael there was no guile. His profession was not hypocritical. He was not a dissembler, nor dishonest; he was a sound character, a really upright, godly man. Christ knows what men are indeed. Does He know us? Let us desire to know him. Let us seek and pray to be Israelites indeed, in whom is no guile; truly Christians, approved of Christ himself. Some thi...

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 Jeremiah 33:14, God says, I will perform _that good thing_ which I promised, c. and this, in Jeremiah 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, Matthew 2:4. If this conjecture be not thought solid, we may suppose that Nazareth, at this time, was...

CAN ANY GOOD THING ... - The character of Nazareth was proverbially bad. To be a Galilean or a Nazarene was an expression of decided contempt, John 7:52. See the notes at Matthew 2:23. Nathanael asked, therefore, whether it was possible that the Messiah should come from a place proverbially wicked. This was a mode of judging in the case not uncommon. It is not by examining evidence, but by prejudice. Many persons suffer their minds to be filled with prejudice against religion, and then pronounce at once without examination. They refuse to examine the subject, for they have set it down that it cannot be true. It matters not where a teacher comes from, or what is the place of his birth, provided he be authorized of God and qualified for his work. C

EXPOSITION THE title of the book is differently given in the manuscripts and ancient versions, and the differences are so considerable that they cannot be referred to the original text. The simplest form of the title is found in א, B, D, and is nothing more than "_according to_ John," ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ (B gives only one N in John's name, but א two); and this is followed by the vulgate and Syriac as a running title. The immense proportion of the uncials—A, C, E, F, G, L, and eight or nine others—read "Gospel according to John" (Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ιωάννην). This is followed by Tregelles, Lachmann, Alford. The T.R., with a large number of manuscripts, reads, "The Gospel according to John;" and in Stephen's third edition the word "holy" occurs before "Gospel." The cursives 69, 178, 259, read Εὐαγγέλιον ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ Ἰωὰνην. Some cursives read, "Of the (holy) Gospel according to John." The p...

AND NATHANAEL SAID UNTO HIM,.... Taking notice of, and laying hold on what Philip said, that he was of Nazareth, which at once stumbled, and prejudiced him against Jesus being the Messiah; knowing very well that Bethlehem was to be the place of his birth: CAN THERE ANY GOOD THING COME OUT OF NAZARETH? The whole country of Galilee was had in contempt with the Jews; but Nazareth was so mean a place, that it seems it was even despised by its neighbours, by the Galilaeans themselves; for Nathanael was a Galilean, that said these words. It was so miserable a place that he could hardly think that any sort of good thing, even any worldly good thing, could come from thence; and it was so wicked, as appears from their murderous designs upon our Lord, that he thought no good man could arise from hence; and still less, any prophet, any person of great note; and still least of all, that that good t...

John 1:19. _And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou ? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ._ «I am not the One anointed of God to save mankind.» John 1:21. _And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias ?_ «Art thou Elijah come back to earth?» John 1:21. _And he saith, I am not._ For, though indeed he was the true spiritual Elijah who was to come as the forerunner of the Messiah, yet, in the sense in which they asked the question, the only truthful answer was, «I am not.» John 1:21

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. The Only-begotten, the Eternal Word; His Glory and His Manifestation -- Chapter 1:1-2:22 CHAPTER 1 __ 1. The Word: the Creator, the Life and the Light. (John 1:1 .) 2. The Light and the Darkness. The Light not Known. (John 1:5 .) 3. The Word Made Flesh and Its Gracious Results. (John 1:12 .) 4. The Witness of John. (John 1:19 .) 5. Following Him and Dwelling With Him. (John 1:35 .) 6. The Next Day. Nathanael's Unbelief and Confession. ...

THE BAPTIST'S DISCIPLES AND JESUS. On the morrow to two of his disciples John bears similar witness. The account in its details suggests the recollections of one to whom the incident bad been the turning-point of his life. The tenth hour, four o-' clock, if true or traditional, may have suggested to the writer the beginning of a new era. He could hardly have invented it for that purpose. The unnamed disciple (_cf._ John 1:40) is generally identified with John the son of Zebedee. John 1:41 does not really hint that he also brought his brother James. Jesus reads the character of Simon, and predicts that men will find in him the Rock man, and will so call him (_cf._ Mark 3:16). It is apparently Peter who ...