Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 10:17

"But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to councils, and in theirs synagogues they will scourge you;" — Matthew 10:17 (ASV)

Those who will hand the disciples over must be Jews, as the context is the synagogue; and so the persecution here envisaged is Jewish persecution of Christians (unlike v.18). The “local councils” (civic or synagogal) were charged with preserving the peace. That “flogging” is used for punishment, rather than the broader term “beating,” implies that the opposition is not mob violence but the result of judicial action. Moreover, Jesus sees a time before the absolute separation of church and synagogue has taken place, for synagogue floggings were most easily inflicted on synagogue members.