Matthew 10:22

Hated of all men] cp. Tacitus the Roman historian: '(Nero) inflicted the most cruel punishments upon a sect of people who were holden in abhorrence for their crimes, and called by the vulgar “Christians.” The founder of that name was Christ, who suffered death in the reign of Tiberius, under his procurator Pontius Pilate... This pernicious superstition, thus checked for a while, broke out again; and spread not only over Judæa where the evil originated, but through Rome also, whither everything bad upon earth finds its way and is practised... A vast multitude were apprehended who were convicted, not so much of the crime of burning Rome, as of hatred to mankind... They were criminals, deserving the severest punishments': cp. also Acts 7:54. To the end] viz. of the trials and persecutions.