Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,

Then were gathered together the chief priests, and the elders of the people, unto the court of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas;

Then were gathered together the chief priests and ancients of the people into the court of the high priest, who was called Caiphas:

Then the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together to the palace of the high priest who was called Caiaphas,

Then were gathered together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, to the court of the chief priest who was called Caiaphas;

Then the High Priests and Elders of the People assembled in the court of the palace of the High Priest Caiaphas,

Then the chief priests and the rulers of the people came together in the house of the high priest, who was named Caiaphas.

Then the leaders of the priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas.

Then the chief priests and the elders of the people met in the house of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,

Then were assembled the chief priests. Matthew does not mean that they assembled during the two days, but introduces this narrative to show, that Christ was not led by any opinion of man to fix the day of his death; for by what conjectures could he have been led to it, since his enemies themselves had resolved to delay for a time? The meaning therefore is, that by the spirit of prophecy he spoke of his own death, which no man could have suspected to be so near at hand. John explains the reason why the scribes and priests held this meeting: it was because, from day to day, the people flocked to Christ in greater multitudes, (John 11:48.) And at that time it was decided, at the instigation of Caiaphas, that he should be put to death, because they could not succeed against him in any other way.

Then assembled - This was a meeting of the great council or Sanhedrin.
See the notes at Matthew 5:22.
The palace - The original word properly denotes the Hall or large area in the center of the dwelling, called the court. See the notes at Matthew 9:1-8. It may be understood, however, as referring to the palace itself.
The high priest - Holding the office that was first conferred on Aaron, Exodus. 28. The office was at first hereditary, descending on the oldest son, Numbers 3:10. Antiochus Epiphanes (160 BC), when he had possession of Judea, sold the office to the highest bidder. In the year 152 BC, Alexander, King of Syria, conferred the office on Jonathan (1 Macc. 10:18-20), whose brother Simon was, afterward created by the Jews both prince and high priest, 1 Macc. 14:35-47. His posterity, who at the same time sustained the office of kings, occupied the station of high priest until the time of Herod, who changed the incumbents of the office at pleasure - a liberty which the Romans ever afterward exercised without any restraint. The office was never more fluctuating than in the time of our Saviour. Hence, it is said that Caiaphas was high priest "for that year," John 11:51. Persons who had been high priests, and had been removed from office, still retained the name. Hence, more than one high priest is sometimes mentioned, though strictly there was but one who held the office.

Then assembled together the chief priests - That is, during the two days that preceded the passover.
The high priest, who was called Caiaphas - Caiaphas succeeded Simon, son of Camith, about a.d. 16, or, as Calmet thinks, 25. He married the daughter of Annas, who was joined with him in the priesthood. About two years after our Lord's crucifixion, Caiaphas and Pilate were both deposed by Vitellius, then governor of Syria, and afterwards emperor. Caiaphas, unable to bear this disgrace, and the stings of his conscience for the murder of Christ, killed himself about a.d. 35. See Joseph. Ant. b. xviii. c. 2-4.

Then assembled together the chief priests,.... About the same time, two days before the passover, that Jesus said these things to his disciples, as is plain from Mark 14:1. By "the chief priests" are meant, either such who had been high priests, or such as were the heads of the twenty four courses of the priests; or rather, the principal men of the priesthood, who were chosen out of the rest, to be members of the great sanhedrim:
and the Scribes; the doctors, of the law, who wrote out copies of the law for the people, and interpreted it to them in a literal way: this clause is left out in the Vulgate Latin, and in Munster's Hebrew Gospel, and in the Arabic and Ethiopic versions, and in the Alexandrian copy, and some others, but is retained in, the Syriac version; and no doubt, but these men had a place in this grand council:
and the elders of the people; these were the civil magistrates; so that this assembly consisted both of ecclesiastics and laymen, as the sanhedrim did, of priests, Levites, and Israelites (t): these came
unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas; his name was Joseph, but his surname Caiaphas; a word not of the same original with Cephas, as Camero thought; for these two words begin with different letters, nor are the rest the same. Now, though a king of Israel might not sit in the sanhedrim, yet an high priest might, provided he was sufficiently qualified with wisdom (u). The president of this grand council at this time, should be Rabban Gamaliel, Paul's master; unless it was Caiaphas, at whose house they were: how they came to meet at the high priest's palace, deserves inquiry; since their proper and usual place of meeting, was a chamber in the temple, called Gazith (w), or the paved chamber: now let it be observed, that according to the accounts the Jews themselves give, the sanhedrim removed from this chamber, forty years before the destruction of the temple (x); and which, as Dr. Lightfoot conjectures, was about a year and a half before the death of Christ; and as others say (y), four years; at least three years and a half before that time: but then, though the sanhedrim removed from the paved chamber, they met at Chanoth, "the sheds", which was a place within the bounds of the temple, in the mountain of the house; and the question still returns, how came it to pass they did not meet there? To me the reason seems to be, that they chose not to meet there, but at the high priest's palace, because of privacy, that it might not be known they were together, and about any affair of moment; and particularly this: the high priest's house was always in Jerusalem, and he never removed from thence; nor did he go from the temple thither only in the night, or an hour or two in the day; for he had an apartment in the temple, which was called the chamber of the high priest, where he was the whole day (z).
(t) Maimon. Hilch. Sanhedrin, c. 2. sect. 1. (u) lb. sect. 4. (w) Misn. Middot c. 5. sect. 3. (x) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 15. 1. Avoda Zara, fol. 8. 2. Sanhedrin, fol. 41. 1. Maimon. Hilch. Sanhedrin, c. 14. sect. 13. Juchasin, fol. 21. 1. (y) Edzard. not. in Avoda Zara, c. 1. p. 236. (z) Maimon. Cele Hamikdash, c. 5. sect. 7.

Then were gathered together. An official meeting of the Sanhedrim. With the chief priests, that is, the high priests, Annas and Caiaphas, and the heads of the twenty-four courses.
And the elders of the people. That is, the heads of the great families, the princes of Judah.
Into the court of the high priest. The palace of Caiaphas. The body now about to assemble, the Sanhedrim, was the supreme court of Israel. According to Jewish accounts, it was composed of seventy-one members, the high priest being president. The "chief priests," or heads of the twenty-four courses, distinguished representatives of the "scribes," and "elders of the people," the heads of the great families, constituted the membership. It could try and condemn to death, but could not carry out capital punishment without the consent of the Roman authorities at this time. It was mostly composed of bitter, bigoted enemies of Jesus, determined at any cost to secure his death. In the trial the Jewish law was constantly violated.
Caiaphas. The reigning high priest, the son-in-law of Annas, who had been high priest, but was deposed by the Romans, but was still called a high priest. Both were Sadducees.

The chief priests and the scribes and the elders of the people - (Heads of families.) These together constituted the sanhedrim, or great council, which had the supreme authority, both in civil and ecclesiastical affairs.