Matthew 26:4

4 At the meeting, they planned to set a trap to arrest Jesus and kill him.

Matthew 26:4 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 26:4

And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtlety
The Jews had often attempted his life, but he escaped out of their hands; they had sent officers to apprehend him, but to no purpose; they therefore meet and consult together, to form some scheme, and make use of some stratagem, that they might lay hold on him, and keep him; they were for doing this in the most private manner they could:

and kill him;
not with their own hands, nor privately; but their scheme was to apprehend him privately, by some secret artifice, and then deliver him to the Roman governor; to put him to death according to law, publicly, for crimes they had to charge him with; hereby ( Psalms 2:2 ) , had its accomplishment, at least in part.

Matthew 26:4 In-Context

2 "You know that the day after tomorrow is the day of the Passover Feast. On that day the Son of Man will be given to his enemies to be crucified."

3 Then the leading priests and the older Jewish leaders had a meeting at the palace of the high priest, named Caiaphas.

4 At the meeting, they planned to set a trap to arrest Jesus and kill him.

5 But they said, "We must not do it during the feast, because the people might cause a riot."

6 Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon, who had a skin disease.