Matthew 26:1-5

Amplified Bible

The Plot to Kill Jesus

26 When Jesus had finished this ^[a]discourse, He said to His disciples, ²“You know that the Passover is coming in two days, and the Son of Man is to be betrayed and handed over for crucifixion.”^(A)

³Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the courtyard of the [elegant home of the Jewish] high priest, whose name was ^[b]Caiaphas, ⁴and plotted together to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill Him. ⁵But they said, “It must not be during the festival (Passover), otherwise there might be a riot among the people.”

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Footnotes

Matthew 26:1 I.e. a formal, extended teaching about important matters.
Matthew 26:3 Caiaphas served as high priest a.d. 18 to 36. His father-in-law, Annas, served as high priest a.d. 6-15. Annas was removed from the position by Rome, but continued to be extremely influential and was regarded by the Jews as de facto high priest even though others (his sons and son-in-law) officially held the office. In about 1990, in an ancient burial cave outside Jerusalem, Israeli archeologists found twelve limestone ossuaries (bone boxes). One of them was uniquely elaborate and decorated with a rare and intricate pattern of rosettes. According to its inscription, this ossuary contained the bones of Caiaphas.