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Selected Verse: John 1:47 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Joh 1:47 |
King James |
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
| an Israelite indeed . . . no guile--not only no hypocrite, but with a guileless simplicity not always found even in God's own people, ready to follow wherever truth might lead him, saying, Samuel-like, "Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth" (Sa1 3:10). |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
An Israelite indeed - One who is really an Israelite - not by birth only, but one worthy of the name. One who possesses the spirit, the piety, and the integrity which become a man who is really a Jew, who fears God and obeys his law. Compare Rom 9:6; Rom 2:28-29.
No guile - No deceit, no fraud, no hypocrisy. He is really what he professes to be - a Jew, a descendant of the patriarch Jacob, fearing and serving God. He makes no profession which he does not live up to. He does not say that Nathanael was without guilt or sin, but that he had no disguise, no trick, no deceit - he was sincere and upright. This was a most honorable testimony. How happy would it be if he, who knows the hearts of all as he did that of Nathanael, could bear the same testimony of all who profess the religion of the gospel! |
| Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886] |
An Israelite indeed (ἀληθῶς Ἱσραηλίτης)
Literally, truly an Israelite. An Israelite not merely in descent, but in character, according to the ideal laid down in God's law. The word Israelite itself was an honorable designation. See on men of Israel, Act 3:12, and compare remarks on Jews, Joh 1:19.
Guile (δόλος)
Properly, a bait for fish, and related at the root to δελεάζω, to catch with a bait, or beguile. See on beguiling, Pe2 2:14. The true Israelite would be the true child of Israel after he had ceased to be the Supplanter. It is an interesting fact that in Gen 25:27, Jacob is called a plain man, i.e., as some explain the Hebrew, a perfect or upright man, and others, a man of quiet and simple habits, and that the Septuagint renders this adjective by ἄπλαστος, unfeigned, without disguise, simple, guileless. The Greek here reads literally, in whom guile is not. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
Behold an Israelite indeed - A worthy descendant of the patriarch Jacob, who not only professes to believe in Israel's God, but who worships him in sincerity and truth, according to his light.
In whom is no guile! - Deceitfulness ever has been, and still is, the deeply marked characteristic of the Jewish people. To find a man, living in the midst of so much corruption, walking in uprightness before his Maker, was a subject worthy the attention of God himself. Behold this man! and, while you see and admire, imitate his conduct. |
10 And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.
28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
27 And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.
14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
12 And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?