John 1:43-51
1:43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”
1:44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
1:45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.”
1:46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
1:47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”
1:48 Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
1:49 Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
1:50 Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.”
1:51 And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
John 1:43-51
[43] καὶ ἤγαγεν αὐτὸν πρὸς τὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν. ἐμβλέψας αὐτῷ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς εἶπε· σὺ εἶ Σίμων ὁ υἱὸς ᾿Ιωνᾶ, σὺ κληθήσῃ Κηφᾶς, ὃ ἑρμηνεύεται Πέτρος.
[44] Τῇ ἐπαύριον ἠθέλησεν ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς ἐξελθεῖν εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν· καὶ εὑρίσκει Φίλιππον καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· ἀκολούθει μοι.
[45]ἦν δὲ ὁ Φίλιππος ἀπὸ Βηθσαϊδά, ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ᾿Ανδρέου καὶ Πέτρου.
[46] εὑρίσκει Φίλιππος τὸν Ναθαναὴλ καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· ὃν ἔγραψε Μωϋσῆς ἐν τῷ νόμῳ καὶ οἱ προφῆται, εὑρήκαμεν, ᾿Ιησοῦν τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ᾿Ιωσὴφ τὸν ἀπὸ Ναζαρέτ.
[47]καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Ναθαναήλ· ἐκ Ναζαρὲτ δύναταί τι ἀγαθὸν εἶναι; λέγει αὐτῷ Φίλιππος· ἔρχου καὶ ἴδε.
[48] εἶδεν ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς τὸν Ναθαναὴλ ἐρχόμενον πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ λέγει περὶ αὐτοῦ· ἴδε ἀληθῶς ᾿Ισραηλίτης, ἐν ᾧ δόλος οὐκ ἔστι.
[49]λέγει αὐτῷ Ναθαναήλ· πόθεν με γινώσκεις; ἀπεκρίθη ᾿Ιησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· πρὸ τοῦ σε Φίλιππον φωνῆσαι, ὄντα ὑπὸ τὴν συκῆν εἶδόν σε.
[50] ἀπεκρίθη Ναθαναὴλ καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· ῥαββί, σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, σὺ εἶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ ᾿Ισραήλ.
[51] ἀπεκρίθη ᾿Ιησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ὅτι εἶπόν σοι, εἶδόν σε ὑποκάτω τῆς συκῆς, πιστεύεις; μείζω τούτων ὄψει.
[52] καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἀπ᾽ ἄρτιὄψεσθε τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνεῳγότα, καὶ τοὺς ἀγγέλους τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀναβαίνοντας καὶ καταβαίνοντας ἐπὶ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.
Comments
Because the Greek text has a different numeration, today’s English pericope (1: 43-51) corresponds to John 1: 44-52.
The grammar and syntax are straightforward. There are many verbs of seeing and beholding. This passage has given rise to the modern Greek saying «Βρήκε ο Φίλιππος τον Ναθαναήλ» (‘Philip has found Nathanael’), which is used of persons with common interests.
[44= 43] ἀκολούθει μοι: 2nd pers. sg. imperative, pres. tense < ἀκολουθῶ (έω), c. dat. pers., ‘follow, freq. of soldiers and slaves’ (cl. Gr.) according to LSJ. Cf. Engl. acolyte. Here the vb refers to discipleship (Ex. Dict. NT, s.v., p. 502).
A pagan parallel to this episode occurs in Diogenes Laertius (prob. early part of 3rd c. AD), in the life of Zeno, the 4th c. BC founder of Stoicism:
‘He [Zeno] went up into Athens and sat down in a bookseller’s shop, being then a man of thirty. As he went on reading the second book of Xenophon’s Memorabilia, he was so pleased that he inquired where men like Socrates were to be found. [3] Crates [the Cynic philosopher] passed by in the nick of time, so the bookseller pointed to him and said, “Follow yonder man.”’
ἀνελθὼν δ᾽ εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας ἤδη τριακοντούτης ἐκάθισε παρά τινα βιβλιοπώλην. ἀναγινώσκοντος δ᾽ ἐκείνου τὸ δεύτερον τῶν Ξενοφῶντος Ἀπομνημονευμάτων, ἡσθεὶς ἐπύθετο ποῦ διατρίβοιεν οἱ τοιοῦτοι ἄνδρες. 4 [3] εὐκαίρως δὲ παριόντος Κράτητος, ὁ βιβλιοπώλης δείξας αὐτόν φησι, “τούτῳ παρακολούθησον.”
- Lives of philosophers 7.2.2 (Perseus text & tr.)
παρακολουθῶ (έω), a compound, is a strengthened form of ἀκολουθῶ.
[47= 46] ἔρχου καὶ ἴδε: here used absolutely, ἴδε is Homeric; it is 2nd pers. sg. aor. imper. < (unattested) εἴδω, ‘Ι see, behold’, εἷδον being the aor.
(In Attic Gk the accent shifts to the ultima: ἰδέ.) ἴδε means ‘Voilá’, ‘Look here!’, which makes it effectively a deictic particle. We can imagine Philp pointing in the direction of Jesus. ἴδε refers to an obj. which is in the nominative.
[48= 47] ἴδε ἀληθῶς ᾿Ισραηλίτης: ἴδε refers to an obj. which is in the nominative.
ἐν ᾧ δόλος οὐκ ἔστι: δόλος, masc., a Homeric word associated with Odysseus, means ‘cunning, treachery’ (LSJ).
[49= 48] με γινώσκεις: γινώσκω, the post-cl. form of γιγνώσκω, means ‘come to know, perceive’ and presupposes observation (see LSJ). Jesus’ answer εἶδόν σε (‘I saw you’), which is repeated in v. 51 [=50] confirms this.
[51] ὑποκάτω τῆς συκῆς: a cmpd adv. (ὑπό +κάτω), c. gen., ‘below, under’, already cl. Gk.
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 