Bartholomew was one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus. Bartholomew (Greek "Βαρθολομαιος," Transliterated "Bartholomaios") comes from the Aramaic bar-Tôlmay, meaning son of Tolmay (Ptolemy) or son of the furrows (perhaps a ploughman).

He is generally supposed to have been the same person as Nathanael. In the Synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Philip and Bartholomew are always mentioned together, while Nathanael is never mentioned; in the gospel of John, on the other hand, Philip and Nathanael are similarly mentioned together, but nothing is said of Bartholomew.

Apart from being listed among the Twelve, Bartholomew appears as one of the witnesses of the ascension (Acts 1:4, 12, 13).

In the Gospel of John (), Nathanael is introduced as a friend of Philippus. He is described as initially being sceptical about the Messiah coming from Nazareth, saying: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?". He follows Philippus nonetheless and goes on to proclaim Jesus as "the Son of God" and "the King of Israel". In this passage, Jesus characterizes him as "an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit". Some scholars hold that Jesus' quote "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you", is based on Jewish figure of speech referring studying the Torah. Nathanael reappears at the end of John's gospel () as one of the disciples to whom Jesus appeared at the Sea of Tiberias after the resurrection.

According to Syrian tradition, Bartholomew's original name was Jesus, which caused him to adopt another name.

Tradition has it that after the ascension, Bartholomew went on a missionary tour to India, where he left behind a copy of the Gospel of Matthew.

Bartholomew, along with Saint Jude Thaddeus is reputed to have brought the new religion of Christianity to Armenia in the 1st century. Thus the Armenian Church is called the Armenian "Apostolic" Church, as both saints are considered to be the patron saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

In works of art he is often represented with a large knife, or, as in Michelangelo's Last Judgment, with his own skin hanging over his arm, tradition holds that in Armenia he was flayed alive and then crucified with his head upside down. This fate has led to him being adopted as the patron saint of tanners.

The festival of St. Bartholomew is celebrated on August 24. The holiday has a relatively bloody history, being the date of the impalement of 30,000 Transylvanians by Vlad the Impaler (Dracula) as well as that of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. The festival however has also been a traditional occasion for markets and fairs; such a fair serves as the scene for Bartholomew Fair, a play by Ben Jonson.

"Bartholomew" in various languages

• Amharic: በርተሎሜዎስ (Berteloméwos)
• Armenian: Partoghimeos
• Catalan: Bartomeu
• Croatian: Bartoloměj
• Czech: Bartoloměj
• Danish: Bartolomæus
• Dutch: Bartolomeüs
• Finnish: Perttu
• French: Barthélemy
• German: Bartolomäus
• Greek: Βαρθολομαίος
• Hungarian: Bertalan (given name), Bartal, Bartos, Bartó (last names)
• Irish Gaelic: Bairtliméad or Parthálan
• Italian: Bartolomeo
• Korean: 바르톨로메오(learned); 바돌로메(vernacular)
• Latin: Bartolomaeus
• Loretano Peruvian Spanish: Bartuco (vernacular)
• Maltese: Bartoloméw (learned); Bartilméw (vernacular)
• Norwegian: Bartolomeus
• Polish: Bartłomiej (learned); Bartosz (vernacular)
• Portuguese: Bartolomeu
• Provençal: Barthomieu
• Scottish Gaelic: Pàrlan
• Spanish: Bartolomé
• Romanian: Bartolomeu
• Russian: Варфоломей (Varfolomei)
• Slovak Bartolomej
• Slovene: Jernej
• Swedish: Bartolomaios, Bartolomeus (older transcription)

Other sources

• Easton's Bible Dictionary,1897.
• Encyclopedia Anglicana, 1911
• Dictionary of First Names, Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges. Oxford University Press, 1996

External links

• The Martyrdom of the Holy and Glorious Apostle Bartholomew, attributed to Pseudo-Abdias, one of the minor Church Fathers

Christian martyrs | Saints | Coptic saints | Followers of Jesus | Catholicoi of Armenia

Bartoloměj (apoštol) | Bartholomäus (Apostel) | Bartolomeus | Barthélemy (apôtre) | ברתולומאוס הקדוש | Sanctus Bartholomeus | Bartolomeüs (apostel) | バルトロマイ | Bartłomiej Apostoł | Варфоломей (апостол) | Svätý Bartolomej | Свети апостол Вартоломеј | Bartolomeus | Bartolomaios | 圣巴托洛缪日