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Bartholomew the Apostle

Bartholomew the Apostle

b. c. 1 CE · Jerusalem

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Bartholomew was one of the Twelve Apostles. The New Testament gives nothing but his name, which appears in the lists in Matthew, Mark, Luke and Acts, usually next to Philip (Mark 3:18; Matthew 10:3; Luke 6:14; Acts 1:13). The name is a patronymic, 'son of Tolmai' in Aramaic, so he may have had another personal name. For that reason, since about the 9th century, many interpreters have identified him with Nathanael. In John's Gospel, Philip brings Nathanael of Cana in Galilee to Jesus, and Jesus calls him 'an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit' (John 1:45-51; 21:2). The identification is never made in the New Testament itself. Eusebius (4th century) reports a tradition that Bartholomew preached in 'India'. He is said to have left the Gospel of Matthew in Hebrew there, which the Alexandrian teacher Pantaenus reportedly found in the late 2nd century. Scholars debate whether this 'India' meant the subcontinent, Arabia or Ethiopia. Armenian tradition holds that he evangelized Armenia with Thaddeus and was martyred there, and the Armenian Apostolic Church honours him as one of its founding apostles.

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Stop 1 of 230With the apostles

JerusalemירושליםJudea

What they did here

Bartholomew is named among the apostles gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem after the resurrection (Acts 1:13). This is the only placed mention of him in the New Testament.

Jerusalem in this era

Under Roman rule Jerusalem was, according to the Gospels, where Jesus was crucified and, in Christian belief, rose from the dead; Acts places Pentecost and the first Christian community, led by the apostles and later by James, there. The Romans destroyed the city in 70 CE.

About Jerusalem

Jerusalem, in the Judean hills, is a sacred city for Jews, Christians and Muslims. In the Hebrew Bible it is King David's capital and the site of Solomon's Temple; the First Temple was destroyed by Babylon in 586 BCE and the Second Temple, rebuilt from about 516 BCE, by Rome in 70 CE. Christians revere it as the place of Jesus's crucifixion and, in their faith, his resurrection; in Islamic tradition it is the destination of the Prophet Muhammad's Night Journey and the first direction of prayer, marked by the Dome of the Rock (691-92) and al-Aqsa Mosque. It was ruled in turn by Rome and Byzantium, by Muslim dynasties from 638, by Crusaders (1099-1187), Ayyubids, Mamluks and Ottomans (1517-1917), and by Britain. Divided between Israel and Jordan from 1948 to 1967, it has since been under Israeli control. Israel regards the city as its capital; Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state; most countries do not recognize sovereignty over the whole city.

In Jerusalem at the same time

Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, Mary, mother of Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, Philip the Apostle, Matthias the Apostle

Across the traditions, in Jerusalem at the same time

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In the same place & time

Sages whose lives overlapped with Bartholomew the Apostle’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.

Across the traditions

The world in their lifetime

Thinkers, teachers, and rulers whose lives overlapped with Bartholomew the Apostle’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn from recorded birth and death years (reign years for rulers whose lives are undated); where only one end of a life is known, a span of about 70 years is assumed.

Works

No works attributed in the corpus yet.