Bartholomew in the Bible — Hidden Meaning & Symbolism

Bartholomew, bär-thol'-o-mew (Gk. from Heb.)-- son of Tolmai; son of the furrowed; son of the plowed, i. e., prepared for seed. One of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ (Matt. 10:3). Meta. The faculty of imagination. He is called Nathanael, in the 1st chapter of John, where Jesus saw him under the fig tree. The inference here is that Jesus discerned Nathanael's presence before the latter came into visibility.