BARTHOLOMEW
(bahr thah' luh myoo) GREEK: BARTHOLOMAIOS
"son of Tolmai/Talmai"
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One of the lesser known of the 12 apostles, Bartholomew is named in all four New Testament lists of Jesus' inner circle of disciples: Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:14, Acts 1:13. Since the ninth century many have proposed that Bartholomew and Nathanael were the same person. This is because the Gospel of John (1:45-51) links Nathanael to Philip but fails to mention Bartholomew, whereas Matthew, Mark and Luke name Bartholomew after Philip but omit Nathanael from their lists. Today, however, the tradition is questioned as an effort to fuse existing evidence. Many scholars now prefer to treat Bartholomew and Nathanael as separate figures, since the sources nowhere say they are the same, and no events are ascribed to both.
{E2 Dictionary of Biblical People}