James is interpreted ‘The supplanter,’ or ‘that supplanteth;’ for he not only supplanted the vices of the flesh, but even contemned the same flesh when Herod put him to death. John in interpreted ‘The grace of God,’ because he deserved before all to be loved by the Lord; whence also in the favour of His especial love, he leaned at supper in the Lord’s bosom.
“Philip and Bartholomew.” Philip is interpreted, ‘The mouth of a lamp,’ or ‘of lamps,’ because when he had been enlightened by the Lord, he straightway sought to communicate that light to his brother by the means of his mouth. Bartholomew is a Syriac, not a Hebrew, name, and is interpreted ‘The son of him that raiseth water,’ [ed. note: or some say, the son of Tolmai, or Ptolemy] that is, of Christ, who raises the hearts of His preachers from earthly to heavenly things, and hangs them there, that the more they penetrate heavenly things, the more they should steep and inebriate the hearts of their hearers with the drops of holy preaching.
“Thomas, and Matthew the Publican.”
Reproduced in full. Translation: Oxford 1841 (Newman), public domain (Public domain).