Based on Lockyer’s reading of John 1:43-51, Nathanael may have been studying the Torah under a fig tree, when he experienced a kind of “holy tryst” with the divine, not unlike Jacob’s ...

Sometimes rabbis studied or taught under a fig tree, so perhaps Nathanael is a scribe or a rabbi. Or perhaps what Jeremiah thought is true: that the fig tree represents the tree of knowledge in ...

Nathanael told it like he thought about Nazareth, and Jesus recognize his candor. Bartholomew is caught off guard: “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you” (John 1:48b), says Jesus.

Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” ―John 1:48–49 ...