Matthew 10:17-18

10:17 Beware ¹  of people, because they will hand you over to councils ²  and flog ³  you in their synagogues. ⁴  10:18 And you will be brought before governors and kings ⁵  because of me, as a witness to them and the Gentiles.

Matthew 24:9

Persecution of Disciples

24:9 “Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations ⁶  because of my name. ⁷ 

John 15:20

15:20 Remember what ⁸  I told you, ‘A slave ⁹  is not greater than his master.’ ¹⁰  If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed ¹¹  my word, they will obey ¹²  yours too.

John 16:2

16:2 They will put you out of ¹³  the synagogue, ¹⁴  yet a time ¹⁵  is coming when the one who kills you will think he is offering service to God. ¹⁶ 

[10:17]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:17]  ² 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.

[10:17]  ³ tn BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1.a states, “of flogging as a punishment decreed by the synagogue (Dt 25:2f; s. the Mishna Tractate Sanhedrin-Makkoth, edited w. notes by SKrauss ’33) w. acc. of pers. Mt 10:17; 23:34.”

[10:17]  ⁴ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[10:18]  ⁵ sn These statements look at persecution both from a Jewish context as the mention of courts 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.

[24:9]  ⁶ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “nations” or “Gentiles”).

[24:9]  ⁷ sn See Matt 5:10-12; 1 Cor 1:25-31.

[15:20]  ⁸ tn Grk “Remember the word that I said to you.”

[15:20]  ⁹ tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.

[15:20]  ¹⁰ sn A slave is not greater than his master. Jesus now recalled a statement he had made to the disciples before, in John 13:16. As the master has been treated, so will the slaves be treated also. If the world had persecuted Jesus, then it would also persecute the disciples. If the world had kept Jesus’ word, it would likewise keep the word of the disciples. In this statement there is the implication that the disciples would carry on the ministry of Jesus after his departure; they would in their preaching and teaching continue to spread the message which Jesus himself had taught while he was with them. And they would meet with the same response, by and large, that he encountered.

[15:20]  ¹¹ tn Or “if they kept.”

[15:20]  ¹² tn Or “they will keep.”

[16:2]  ¹³ tn Or “expel you from.”

[16:2]  ¹⁴ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:59.

[16:2]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “an hour.”

[16:2]  ¹⁶ sn Jesus now refers not to the time of his return to the Father, as he has frequently done up to this point, but to the disciples’ time of persecution. They will be excommunicated from Jewish synagogues. There will even be a time when those who kill Jesus’ disciples will think that they are offering service to God by putting the disciples to death. Because of the reference to service offered to God, it is almost certain that Jewish opposition is intended here in both cases rather than Jewish opposition in the first instance (putting the disciples out of synagogues) and Roman opposition in the second (putting the disciples to death). Such opposition materializes later and is recorded in Acts: The stoning of Stephen in 7:58-60 and the slaying of James the brother of John by Herod Agrippa I in Acts 12:2-3 are notable examples.