NATHANAEL  , a

character in the New Testament, who appears in John i . 45 sqq. as one of the first disciples of Jesus . In John xxi . 2 he is described as belonging to Cana of Galilee . The account of his call reveals to us a man of a deeply spiritual and sincere nature . Otherwise we know nothing beyond the mention of his name as one of the seven to whom, after the Resurrection, Christ revealed himself at the sea of Tiberias (John xxi . 2) . But the interest he has evoked is shown by the attempts to identify him with other New Testament characters . Of these the one which has found most favour sees in him the apostle Bartholomew (q.v.) . The actual identification must however remain a matter of pure conjecture . Still less can be said for the attempts to find in Nathanael another name for the apostle Matthew, or for Matthias, or for Paul " the apostle of visions," or even for the writer of the Fourth Gospel himself .