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John 1:47-49

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”
— D.L. Moody

Scripture focus

47. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! 48. 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. 49. Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.

John 1:47-49 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on John 1:47

Theological / Devotional

An Israelite indeed. Or, “truly an Israelite,” that is, one who served God in sincerity of heart (see ch. 4:23, 24) and not as a hypocrite (see on Matt. 6:2; 7:5; 23:13). Nathanael was one of that small but devout group who earnestly waited for “the consolation of Israel” (see on Luke 2:25) and aspired to the high ideals set before them by God (see Vol. IV, pp. 26-30). A true Israelite was not necessarily a literal descendant of Abraham (see John 8:33-44), but one who chose to live in harmony with the will of God (see John 8:39; Acts 10:34, 35; Rom. 2:28, 29; 9:6, 7, 25-27; 10:12, 13; Gal. 3:9, 28, 29; 1 Peter 2:9, 10).

Guile. Gr. dolos, literally, “bait,” such as for catching fish, but figuratively, “trickery,” “guile,” “treachery.” False pretenses are the “bait” used by the hypocrite to convince men that he is better than he really is.

By SdaBc