St. Bartholomew
Meaning of the name: To begin with I need to share that the opinion I am holding is not a unanimous one. Yet, majority agrees that Nathaniel from the Gospel of John (1:45-51; 21:2) and Bartholomew of Synoptic Gospels and the Book of Acts (Matthew 10:1-4; Mark 3:13-19; Luke 6:12-16; Acts 1:13) are the persons. We are going to treat it this way. Therefore, we need to talk about both names, starting with Bartholomew.
The name is Aramaic: Bar-Tholmai – son of furrows. The agricultural allusion, the one who relies on God, hoping that the crop will grow strong and there will be ability to harvest the grains or fruits. It actually goes together with Nathaniel. Hebrew: Nathani-El – God given (given by God or given to God). One of the most trusting God vocation is a sower – because at some point one understands that he can't do anything. The seed grows without his input.
Life story: We know that he was born at Cana of Galilee (John 21:2). Which makes his presence at the wedding, where Jesus performed the miracle of turning water into wine even more significant. More to be said about it.
