John 1:46

46 Nathanael said to Philip, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Philip told him, "Come and see!"

John 1:46 Meaning and Commentary

John 1:46

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 thing, or person, the Messiah, should spring from it: so that his objection, and prejudice, proceeded not only upon the oracle in ( Micah 5:2 ) , which points out Bethlehem as the birthplace of the Messiah; but upon the wickedness, and meanness, and obscurity of Nazareth.

Philip saith unto him, come and see;
who though he might not be master of this point, and knew not how to solve this difficulty, and remove this prejudice from Nathanael's mind, yet persuades him to go with him to Jesus; who, he doubted not, would give him full satisfaction in this, and all other points; and then it would most clearly appear to him, as it had done to him, that he was the true Messiah. The phrase, (yzx at) , "come, see", is often used in the book of Zohar ^F17: so it is, and likewise, (harw ab) , "come and see", in the Talmudic writings ^F18.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 In Gen. fol. 13. 1. & 14. 3. & 16. 1, 2. & in Exod. fol. 83. 4. & passim.
F18 T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 8. 1. & 23. 2. & 24. 1. Kiddushin, fol. 20. 1. & 33. 1. & Sota, fol. 5. 1, 2. & passim.

John 1:46 In-Context

44 (Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.)

45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the man whom Moses wrote about in his teachings and whom the prophets wrote about. He is Jesus, son of Joseph, from the city of Nazareth."

46 Nathanael said to Philip, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Philip told him, "Come and see!"

47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and remarked, "Here is a true Israelite who is sincere."

48 Nathanael asked Jesus, "How do you know anything about me?" Jesus answered him, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you."