Ἰωάννην 1:46

Greek Modern Translation

Και ειπε προς αυτον ο Ναθαναηλ· Εκ Ναζαρετ δυναται να προελθη τι αγαθον; Λεγει προς αυτον ο Φιλιππος, Ερχου και ιδε.

Parallel Translations

SBL Greek New Testament (2010)
καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Ναθαναήλ· Ἐκ Ναζαρὲτ δύναταί τι ἀγαθὸν εἶναι; λέγει αὐτῷ ⸀ὁ Φίλιππος· Ἔρχου καὶ ἴδε.

Tischendorf 8th Edition
εὑρίσκει Φίλιππος τὸν Ναθαναὴλ καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· ὃν ἔγραψεν Μωϋσῆς ἐν τῷ νόμῳ καὶ οἱ προφῆται, εὑρήκαμεν, Ἰησοῦν υἱὸν τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ τὸν ἀπὸ Ναζαρέτ.

Textus Receptus (1550/1894)
και ειπεν αυτω ναθαναηλ εκ ναζαρετ ναζαρετ δυναται τι αγαθον ειναι λεγει αυτω φιλιππος ερχου και ιδε

Westcott/Hort UBS4 (1881)
και ειπεν αυτω ναθαναηλ εκ ναζαρετ δυναται τι αγαθον ειναι λεγει αυτω αυτω αυτω αυτω φιλιππος ερχου και ιδε

Byzantine/Majority Text
και ειπεν αυτω ναθαναηλ εκ ναζαρετ δυναται τι αγαθον ειναι λεγει αυτω φιλιππος ερχου και ιδε

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Can: John 7:41, John 7:42, John 7:52, Luke 4:28, Luke 4:29

Come: John 4:29, Luke 12:57, 1 Thessalonians 5:21

Reciprocal: Matthew 2:23 - He shall Matthew 13:55 - the carpenter's Matthew 21:11 - of Nazareth Matthew 26:69 - Jesus Mark 10:47 - Jesus Luke 1:26 - a city Luke 2:4 - of the city Luke 7:22 - Go John 1:39 - Come John 2:24 - because John 7:17 - General John 7:28 - Ye both John 18:5 - Jesus John 19:19 - Jesus

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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, תא חזי, "come, see", is often used in the book of Zohar q: so it is, and likewise, בא וראה, "come and see", in the Talmudic writings r.

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

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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.

Come and see - This was the best way to answer Nathanael. He did not sit down to reason with him, or speculate about the possibility that a good thing could come from Nazareth; but he asked him to go and examine for himself, to see the Lord Jesus, to hear him converse, to lay aside his prejudice, and to judge from a fair and candid personal inquiry. So we should beseech sinners to lay aside their prejudices against religion, and “to be Christians,” and thus make trial for themselves. If men can be persuaded to come to Jesus, all their petty and foolish objections against religion will vanish. They will be satisfied from their own experience that it is true, and in this way only will they ever be satisfied.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

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 2:4-6. If this conjecture be not thought solid, we may suppose that Nazareth, at this time, was become so abandoned that no good could be expected from any of those who dwelt in it, and that its wickedness had passed into a proverb: Can any thing good be found in Nazareth? Or, that the question is illiberal, and full of national prejudice.

Come and see. — He who candidly examines the evidences of the religion of Christ will infallibly become a believer. No history ever published among men has so many external and internal proofs of authenticity as this has. A man should judge of nothing by first appearances, or human prejudices. Who are they who cry out, The Bible is a fable? Those who have never read it, or read it only with the fixed purpose to gainsay it. I once met with a person who professed to disbelieve every tittle of the New Testament, a chapter of which, he acknowledged, he had never read. I asked him, had he ever read the Old? He answered, No! And yet this man had the assurance to reject the whole as an imposture! God has mercy on those whose ignorance leads them to form prejudices against the truth; but he confounds those who take them up through envy and malice, and endeavour to communicate them to others.