Nathanael/Bartholomew. The synoptic gospels refer to him as Bartholomew. John's gospel refers to him as Nathanael. It has been widely conjectured that they are both one and the same person. To have a surname in addition to the family name was quite common in those days. The name Nathanael is a Greek name meaning, "a gift of God". While Bartholomew is Hebrew which means, "bar-Tolmai", or the "son of Tolmai". The early church apologist Jerome believes that Nathan was of a royal lineage descended from the line of David. This claim is evident of a family name derived from David, quite possibly attributed to the prophet Nathan. We do know that Nathanael was born in Cana of Galilee (John 21:2), the same place that Jesus attended the wedding feast and turned the water into choice wine (John 2:1-12). As mentioned earlier, it was Philip who introduced Nathanael to Jesus and later became a disciple (John 1:45). Aside from being merely listed as a disciple, there is no additional Biblical information or references pertaining to Nathanael in the gospel accounts nor the Acts.

Nathanael is said to have preached the gospel in as far away as India, Arabia, and according to some in Armenia. He is also reputed to have preached along with Philip in Phrygia. According to tradition it was in Albana, modern day Azerbaijan where Nathanael finally met his death as a martyr.