What was the role of Nathaniel in the Ministry of Jesus?

Question

We see Jesus selecting some of his disciples in Jn 1: 43-51 (NRSVCE):

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.... Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” ....When Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”

But, we do not find the name of Nathaniel in the list of Apostles. Is it possible that he was given a new name and appointed as an Apostle, or did he continue to be one of the 72 disciples by the same name?

Answer 1

His identity

Catholics, as many other Christians, solve the problem of Nathaniel's name being missing from lists of the apostles by identifying Nathaniel with Bartholomew. The latter is a patronymic, a "last name" similar to Peter being call "Simon Bar-Jona."

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! (Matthew 16:17)

Thus, the Catholic Encyclopedia says

It is generally held that Nathanael is to be identified with the Apostle Bartholomew of the Synoptic writers... It is assumed that it is he whom the author of the Fourth Gospel designates by his personal name Nathanael.

In Hebrew, this apostle's last name would be Bar-Tolmai. What we have in John's gospel a Greek version of this.

His role

Regarding his role, the article says:

Nathanael is mentioned as present with other Apostles after the Resurrection in the scene described in John 21. He was brought to Jesus by Philip (John 1:45), and thus it seems significant that Bartholomew is always mentioned next to Philip in the lists of the Twelve given by the Synoptists (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14).

The Catholic Encyclopedia further admits that little is known about him by either name and says "no mention of St. Bartholomew occurs in ecclesiastical literature before Eusebius."

We have to conclude that Nathaniel/Bartholomew played only a minor role in Jesus' ministry as recorded in the Gospels and early church tradition.

Answer 2

The Cambridge commentary sets out the problems and the usual solutions to this enigma as follows:

45. Nathanael = ‘Gift of God.’ The name occurs Numbers 1:8; 1 Chronicles 2:14; 1Es 1:9; 1Es 9:22. Nathanael is commonly identified with Bartholomew;

(1) Bartholomew is only a patronymic and the bearer would be likely to have another name (comp. Barjona of Simon, Barnabas of Joses);

(2) S. John never mentions Bartholomew, the Synoptists never mention Nathanael;

(3) the Synoptists in their lists place Bartholomew next to Philip, as James next his probable caller John, and Peter (in Matt. and Luke) next his caller Andrew;

(4) all the other disciples mentioned in this chapter become Apostles, and none are so highly commended as Nathanael;

(5) All Nathanael’s companions named in John 21:2 were Apostles (see note there). But all these reasons do not make the identification more than probable. The framers of our Liturgy do not countenance the identification: this passage appears neither as the Gospel nor as a Lesson for S. Bartholomew’s Day.