

And the chief priests and Scribes
Matthew adds, "and the elders of the people"; which made up the great sanhedrim and council of the nation; these met together, not in their usual place the temple, but at the palace of Caiaphas, the high priest; see ( Matthew 24:3 ) . And sought how they might kill him;
that is, "Jesus", as the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read; they had determined before, upon the advice of Caiaphas, to put him to death, and very likely had fixed what kind of death he should die; see ( John 11:49 John 11:50 John 11:53 ) and now they consult together, of the manner of bringing it about, and at what time; and the majority were not for doing it on a feast day, when there was a great concourse of people, but with more privacy: for they feared the people:
which were now in great multitudes with him, who came along with him, from Galilee, and other parts; and had hosanna'd him into the city, and still abode with him, and their numbers were increasing; and the sanhedrim were aware, that at the passover there would be still a greater company of people from all parts of the land; and they might conclude, that he would have a large number of his friends come out of Galilee, where he had been for the most part teaching, and working miracles; and they were afraid, should they lay hold on him publicly, the people would rise and stone them; at least would rescue him out of their hands, and disappoint them of their designs.
This feature is for PLUS subscribers only. Join PLUS today to access these tools and more.
JOIN PLUSThis feature is for PLUS subscribers only. Join PLUS today to access these tools and more.
JOIN PLUSThis feature is for PLUS subscribers only. Join PLUS today to access these tools and more.
JOIN PLUSCreate a free account to start a reading plan, or join PLUS to unlock our full suite of premium study tools.