Matthew 26:59

“Now the chief priests and elders, and all the counsel, etc.] Or sanhedrim, which consisted, as the Jewish writers say f1589, of priests, Levites, and Israelites, of both ecclesiastics and laics; the ecclesiastics were the priests and Levites, and the laics the Israelites, or elders of the people; for if priests and Levites could not be found, a sanhedrim might consist of those only; and so those words in (<052102>Deuteronomy 21:2), “thy elders”, are thus interpreted f1590, lwdgh ˆyd tyb hz, this is the great sanhedrim; and though a king of Israel might not sit in the sanhedrim, yet an high priest might, if he was a man of wisdom f1591, and it seems as if Caiaphas was now at the head of this…”

“False witness - That is, they sought for witnesses who would accuse him of crime of violation of the laws of the land or of God. We are not to suppose that “they wished” them to be “false” witnesses. They were indifferent, probably, whether they were true or false, if they could succeed in condemning him. “The evangelist” calls it false testimony. Before these witnesses were sought, we learn from John John 18:19-23 that the high priest asked Jesus of his disciples and his doctrine. Jesus replied that he had taught openly in the temple, and in secret had said nothing; that is, he had no “secret doctrines” which he had not been willing openly to teach, and he referred the high priest to those…”

“26:59 were trying to find witnesses: The verb tense suggests an extended, perhaps desperate, attempt to find any testimony that could lead to a formal accusation (see Mark 14:55-56).”

“sought: Deu 19:16-21; Kg1 21:8-13; Psa 27:12, Psa 35:11, Psa 35:12, Psa 94:20, Psa 94:21; Pro 25:18; Mar 14:55, Mar 14:56; Act 6:11-13, Act 24:1-13 Matthew 26:60”