John Wesley
1703–1791 · Anglican priest and leader of early Methodism
From his Explanatory Notes on the New Testament (1755), which Wesley adapted largely from Johann Bengel and others.
Wesley's Notes on the Bible
- A servant of Jesus Christ - Whose name the apostle mentions but once more in the whole epistle, chap. ii, 1. And not at all in his whole discourse, Acts xv, 14, &c.; or Acts xxi, 20-25. It might have seemed, if he mentioned him often, that he did it out of vanity, as being the brother of the Lord. To the twelve tribes - Of Israel; that is, those of them that believe. Which are scattered abroad - In various countries. Ten of the tribes were scattered ever since the reign of Hosea; and great part of the rest were now dispersed through the Roman empire: as was foretold, Deut. xxviii, 25, &c.xxx, 4. Greeting - That is, all blessings, temporal and eternal.