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Joh_1:48. Περὶ αὐτοῦ ] therefore to those journeying with Him, but so that the approaching Nathanael hears it, Joh_1:49.
ἀληθῶς ] truly an Israelite, not merely according to outward descent and appearance, but in the moral nature which really corresponds to that of an upright Israelite. Comp. Rom_9:6; Rom_2:29. Ἐν ᾧ δόλος οὐκ ἐστί tells by what means he is so. Thus sincere and honest, thus inwardly true, should every Israelite be (not simply free from self-righteousness, but possessing what essentially belongs to truth); and Nathanael was all this. This virtue of guilelessness, as the characteristic of the true Israelite, is not named as belonging generally to the ancient ideal of the nation (Lücke, De Wette; this view arbitrarily passes by the reference to the nation historically which lay much nearer); but in view of the venerable and honourable testimonies which had been uttered concerning the people of Israel (e.g. Num_23:10), whose father was himself already designated àÄéùÑ úÌÈí , LXX. ἄπλαστος ,[125] Gen_25:27; Aq. ἉΠΛΟῦς ,[126] Symm. ἄμωμος .
Jesus here also, as in Joh_1:43-44, appears as the searcher of hearts.
[125] Comp. Plato, Legg. I. p. 642 D: ἀληθῶς καὶ οὔτε πλαστῶς εἰσὶν ἀγαθοί . Soph. 216 C: οἱ μὴ πλαστῶς , ἀλλʼ ὄντως φιλόσοφοι .
[126] Comp. Aristoph. Plut. 1159: οὐ γὰρ δόλου νῦν ἔργον , ἀλλʼ ἁπλῶν τρόπων .