12:38 In his teaching Jesus 2 also said, “Watch out for the experts in the law. 3 They like walking 4 around in long robes and elaborate greetings 5 in the marketplaces,
13:9 “You must watch out for yourselves. You will be handed over 6 to councils 7 and beaten in the synagogues. 8 You will stand before governors and kings 9 because of me, as a witness to them.
1 tn Grk “by [the measure] with which you measure it will be measured to you.”
2 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Or “for the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.
4 tn In Greek this is the only infinitive in vv. 38-39. It would be awkward in English to join an infinitive to the following noun clauses, so this has been translated as a gerund.
5 sn There is later Jewish material in the Talmud that spells out such greetings in detail. See H. Windisch, TDNT 1:498.
3 tn Grk “They will hand you over.” “They” is an indefinite plural, referring to people in general. The parallel in Matt 10:17 makes this explicit.
4 sn Councils in this context refers to local judicial bodies attached to the Jewish synagogue. This group would be responsible for meting out justice and discipline within the Jewish community.
5 sn See the note on synagogue in 1:21.
6 sn These statements look at persecution both from a Jewish context as the mention of councils and synagogues suggests, and from a Gentile one as the reference to governors and kings suggests. Some fulfillment of Jewish persecution can be seen in Acts.