[2] The first disciples who follow Jesus are portrayed as reaching out immediately to family or friends: thus, Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote — Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph".

hold that when Jesus said, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you", is based on a Jewish figure of speech, referring to studying the Torah.

[citation needed] Nathanael recognizes Jesus as "the Son of God" and "the King of Israel".

[6] He reappears (as "Nathanael of Cana") at the end of John's Gospel, as one of the disciples to whom Jesus appeared at the Sea of Galilee after the Resurrection.

[10] The earliest identification of Nathanael with one of the Twelve Disciples is found in the 2nd-century Epistula Apostolorum, where he is identified with or takes the place of James, son of Alphaeus.