Matthew 26:4

4 They made plans to arrest Jesus in a clever way. They wanted to 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 "As you know, the Passover Feast is two days away. The Son of Man will be handed over to be nailed to a cross."

3 Then the chief priests met with the elders of the people. They met in the palace of Caiaphas, the high priest.

4 They made plans to arrest Jesus in a clever way. They wanted to kill him.

5 "But not during the Feast," they said. "The people may stir up trouble."

6 Jesus was in Bethany. He was in the home of a man named Simon, who had a skin disease.