John 1:46

Verse 46. Can any good thing, &c. The character of Nazareth was proverbially bad. To be a Galilean or a Nazarene was an expression of decided contempt, Joh 7:52. See Barnes "Mt 2:23". Nathanael asked, therefore, whether it was possible that the Messiah should come from a place proverbially wicked. This was a mode of judging in the case not uncommon. It is not by examining evidence, but by prejudice. Many persons suffer their minds to be filled with prejudice against religion, and then pronounce at once without examination. They refuse to examine the subject, for they have set it down that it cannot be true.