Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the Law, and also the Prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile.” Nathanael said to him, “How is it that you know me?” Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Nathanael answered, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Jesus answered, “Why did I tell you I saw you under the fig tree? Do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”  (Jn 1:45-51)

Bartholomew appears in the Synoptic Gospels with his Greek name, which comes from the Aramaic patronymic bar-Tôlmay, “son of Tôlmay” or “son of Ptolemy.” In the Gospel of John, however, he appears with a Hebrew name, Nathanael. The Hebrew etymology of his name means “God has given.” Tradition has assimilated Bartholomew and Nathanael as the same person.

His personal encounter with Jesus in the Gospel of John

What we know for sure about Bartholomew’s life comes from the Gospel texts, especially the Gospel of John, which describes in detail how his personal encounter with Jesus led him to his profession of faith in the longed-for Messiah. Nathanael, or Bartholomew, was a fisherman from Cana who knew Nazareth well, just 8 km away, but he didn’t trust its inhabitants very much. He was therefore skeptical when his friend Philip told him about Jesus of Nazareth and asked, with great irony, if anything good could have come from the poor town of Nazareth. Philip didn’t try to convince him with words, but invited him to have his own personal encounter with Jesus. Bartholomew agreed and went to find Jesus, but when he found him, it was Jesus who surprised him by telling him that before Philip had called him, it was Jesus who had already known that Bartholomew was “a sincere and honest Israelite.” Jesus also revealed to him that he had known him since he “was under the fig tree” and at this point, Bartholomew, a man of reality and attached to tradition who meditated daily on the Scriptures, made a true confession of faith in Jesus as the Messiah awaited by Israel: “You are the Son of God and the King of Israel!”

Apostle in India, martyr in Armenia according to popular traditions

After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Book of Acts tells us that the disciples gathered in prayer with Mary and other women. Bartholomew was also among them: “Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a short distance, just the distance permitted by law on the Sabbath. When they arrived in the city, they went up to the upper floor of the house where they were staying. They were Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. They all met diligently with some women and with Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers” (cf. Acts 1:12-14).
Subsequent events are no longer reported by reliable historical sources, but popular traditions say that Bartholomew went to preach the Word of God in various eastern regions, from Mesopotamia to India, where God accompanied his preaching with miracles and prodigious healings. It is also said that he reached Armenia and that there, in addition to preaching conversion to the populations of twelve cities, he also managed to evangelize King Polymius and his wife, angering the priests of the local pagan deities. Other legends claim that Astyages, the king’s brother, instigated by the priests, managed to condemn him to death. These accounts add that his martyrdom would have taken place in Albanopoli around the year 68. Finally, after a thousand vicissitudes over the centuries, it is said that his relics would have reached Rome through the intervention of Emperor Otto III, relics that are today preserved in the basilica dedicated to him on the Tiber Island.