Men is here used of people in general, not of males specifically, though in the Jewish culture men would have been the persons who did these things that the disciples are warned against. New American Bible translates the first sentence “Be on your guard with respect to others,” while New English Bible has “And be on your guard, for men will….” Barclay make the reference impersonal: “You must be constantly on your guard. They will….” Beware may be translated as “Watch out” or “Be very careful of.”
Though deliver … up is used in other contexts, it is the verb consistently used of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. Matthew may have chosen it for this passage in order to affirm that what happened to the Lord will inevitably happen to his followers. There are several different ways translators have handled deliver … up. Some have found Good News Translation a useful model: “arrest you and take you to court.” Others have said “accuse you before the councils so they will arrest you.” Perhaps a simpler rendering is “turn you over to the authorities of the councils (so they can put you on trial).”
Councils (“sanhedrins”) is always used in its singular form elsewhere in the New Testament, where it has reference to the supreme religious court of the Jews. That court consisted of seventy leaders of the Jewish people and was presided over by the High Priest. In Good News Translation this noun is generally translated “Council.” Here, however, the reference is to the councils from local synagogues; these councils consisted of twenty-three influential members, and their responsibility was to keep peace among the members of the local Jewish community. Councils is often translated as “court.” However, in cultures where there exist councils of elders in villages, then “elders” may be acceptable. This is especially true if these elders try cases relating to religious matters. Other translators have said “the leaders in the House of Prayer.”
Their synagogues: the noun “synagogue” was first used in 4.23, then again in 6.2, 5 and 9.35. Acts 22.19 shows that whippings could take place in the synagogue. Normally the whip used by the Jews was made of calf skin and donkey hide woven together. The minister of the synagogue or the synagogue attendant administered the punishment, and it was limited to a maximum of thirty-nine lashes. According to 2 Corinthians 11.24, Paul suffered this punishment five times. By the possessive their, Matthew intends to separate between the Jewish community and the Christian Church. See other comments on “synagogue” at 4.23.
Flog, as indicated above, means “whipped,” that is, “beaten with a whip.”
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .