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•NARCISSUS daffodil, a Roman whom Paul salutes (Romans 16:11). He is supposed to have been the private secretary of the emperor Claudius. This is, however, quite uncertain.
•NATHAN given. (1.) A prophet in the reigns of David and Solomon (2 Chronicles 9:29). He is first spoken of in connection with the arrangements David made for the building of the temple (2 Samuel 7:2, 3, 17), and next appears as the reprover of David on account of his sin with Bathsheba (12:1-14). He was charged with the education of Solomon (12:25), at whose inauguration to the throne he took a prominent part (1 Kings 1:8, 10, 11, 22-45). His two sons, Zabad (1 Chronicles 2:36) and Azariah (1 Kings 4:5) occupied places of honour at the king’s court. He last appears in assisting David in reorganizing the public worship (2 Chronicles 29:25). He seems to have written a life of David, and also a life of Solomon (1 Chronicles 29:29; 2 Chronicles 9:29).
(2.) A son of David, by Bathsheba (2 Samuel 5:14), whose name appears in the genealogy of Mary, the mother of our Lord (Luke 3:31).
(3.) Ezra 8:16.
•NATHANAEL given or gift of God, one of our Lord’s disciples, “of Cana in Galilee” (John 21:2). He was “an Israelite indeed, in whom was no guile” (1:47, 48). His name occurs only in the Gospel of John, who in his list of the disciples never mentions Bartholomew, with whom he has consequently been identified. He was one of those to whom the Lord showed himself alive after his resurrection, at the Sea of Tiberias.