John 1:46

Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? (Ek Nazaret dunatai ti agaqon einai;). Literally, "Out of Nazareth can anything good be." There is a tinge of scorn in the question as if Nazareth (note position at beginning of sentence) had a bad name. Town rivalry may account to some extent for it since Cana (home of Nathanael) was near Nazareth. Clearly he had never heard of Jesus. The best thing in all the world came out of Nazareth, but Philip does not argue the point. A saying had arisen that no prophet comes out of Galilee ( John 7:52 ), untrue like many such sayings. Come and see (ercou kai ide). Present middle imperative (come on) and second active imperative (and see at once). Philip followed the method of Jesus with Andrew and John (verse John 39 ), probably without knowing it. Wise is the one who knows how to deal with the sceptic.